I have been trying to break into the front office from a middle office position for the past four years without much luck. i have now interviewed for two positions one in investment monitoring - compliance and one as a fund and market specialist where i woukd have to summarize market information for retail clients and answer any questions they may have regarding portfolio returns, positioning etc. which would be the more desirable route to go and where is there more likely to be good potential for growth?
Seems to me that compliance is simply another middle or even back office job. The only advantage of compliance is that it is a type of position that will never go away. Anything that gets you closer to interacting with clients is where you want to go. I’d say the market specialist is both more interesting and has the better chance to take you where you want to go.