HK FT CLASS OF 2011 OFFICIAL THREAD!!!

i will be joining top tier (GS/MS/JPM) for 2011 in investment banking!

xxx

hows comp in HK? they still give you housing?

Comp:

545,000 base (~$70,000 USD) 240,000 housing (~31,000) USD$10,000 relocation bonus

Total first year base comp = $110,000. [Bonus typically higher in HK as well]

(Tax in HK = 15%, tax in NY = 35%) --> For US citizens, first $90,000 you only pay the HK tax.

hey, may I ask about the timeline of the interviews? are we expecting 1st round in Oct, and 2nd in Nov, then finals in Dec.??? generally.

Thanks

Not sure, have never done FT recruiting for HK.

part of your end of year bonus is actually allocating to your housing I believe. In the end, the absolute number pretax will be the same, but the first 90k taxed at 15% is SWEEEEET

most HK BBs i know of had a pretty good intern conversion rate, so they're not looking to hire that many... competition will be stiff this time round... some banks are hiring as late as nov...

Question to you guys regarding recruiting from the US:

For those of you who went through SA recruiting from the US, did they fly you out to HK for superdays and everything? Overall, how does recruiting in HK differ from recruiting in NYC or the other US Finance cities? Also, what's the timeline like for SA recruiting in HK?

ibhopeful, thanks so much for that info. HK seems intriguing, SB for you!

@ Ricqles,

That's correct, the part of the bonus is allocated into the housing stipend - however, consider this.

If the market doesn't do so hot next year and bonuses are down... let's say middle bucket US$40k, the first year analyst in NY is making (40 + 70 base) = $110

The HK analyst comp structure GUARANTEES ~100k (base + housing). In other words, you get guaranteed 30K bonus. Also, after comping in the bonus, the HK analyst usually comes out to something like $170K first year. 2nd and 3rd years will reach around 200K.

i didn't know that hk 1st year analyst get 70k as their end of year bonus (170k-100k of base + housing). But i never worked there and just heard the numbers from the places I interviewed/had friends in the banks so maybe i was wrong. really? 170k? dang! haha

anybody know what citi's reputation is like in hk? any comments on work culture, average hours, etc?

thinking about switching from nyc => hk, input would be appreciated

which banks give housing? any that are confirmed?

CS/DB/JPM are confirmed. It ranges from 180k (15k / month) - 240k (20k/month) but as someone mentioned before, the bonus will be adjusted accordingly to reflect the amount that was paid for housing.

It should be stated in your contract / expat-package addendum. Confirm with your HR team.

ohhh so if my contract didnt include the package, it'll likely imply a higher bonus than those that give out housing?

it soudns like you are at GS --- they are pretty cheap....

i mean bonus might be a bit higher but... generally you'd rather take the money upfront rather than counting on a bonus that may or may not be as high as you hope

Does everyone get housing (regardless of whether you're a local hire or an expat)? Any reason for anyone NOT to get housing $$ from the confirmed banks?

Also... do these packages vary for lateral/experienced hires?

^

I think some banks have LOCAL PAY for hires out of China for the first year or two and then promote them. But if you are are hired from the UK / US, I believe you will get expat package regardless of citizenship.

Nah, the packages are standard. they get bumped up as you move up the ranks. MD's get a ridiculous amount... I know one or two who lived in the FOur Seasons serviced apartments, fully comp'd by company.

are interviews for HK all out already? deadlines seem to be October and even Nov for some.

expat packages are insane in China. I lived in a 5-star hotel serviced apartment for 1 year when i first moved here - as an analyst... forget about MD's - when they move here (which is rare), the company buys them EVERYTHING - including leased BMW's with full time drivers and so forth... HK is a bit of a different story, as prices are more similar to the west, but if you're getting global pay in Beijing / Shanghai you can really live like a fucking PYMP.

^ lol nope it's true.

Goldman Sachs Beijing (Gao Sheng Gao Hua), UBSS (UBS Beijing division), JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley gets global pay (e.g. over $1 million RMB for a first-year analyst ... to put that in perspective, the average graduate from Tsinghua/PKU -- the "harvard" of China makes ~50,000 a year --- IF they can find a job in the first place)

Daily allowances for meals (lunch and dinner) is 250RMB = ~$35 USD... which in China basically means they can eat whatever they want. Weekends are 450RMB. Best part? Goldman, UBS, JPM (which are all in the same building) all have Audi's / VW Passat's in a row waiting downstairs. If you are a GS / UBS /JPM employee, you can use the company cars for any all all transportation services. Hong Kong and Beijing analysts travel very frequently throughout Asia and frequently roadshows to US --- always on business class and stay at the best hotels in BJ/HK (e.g. Ritz, Westin, Grand Hyatt Beijing) -- all of which are leagues more luxurious than their counterparts in the US.

And I've seen GS Beijing pitchbooks and compared them to GS NY pitchbooks ---- they are exactly the same quality (complete with the silver lined covers outlining Goldman Sachs and the bindings with Goldman Sachs imprinted in silver)

jesus christ..should i should have thought about it twice before decling gs bejing LOL oh well..maybe some time in the future

Ridiculous... looks like banking is still the days of the old in China.

I hate to sound like a total bro/douche with this question, but how are the girls in these cities? Is the best thing you have to look forward to a cute Chinese girl? or are there enough expats that there's some diversity in selection? Are there clubs that are disproportionately filled with westerners?

girls are fine, there are ugly and pretty girls everywhere. It really depends on how good yo uare around girls ( if you are bad at it..you won't get better if you go to a different country unless you want to attract golddiggers or busted asian girls who only like westerners)

wouldn't housing bonus used for expensive housing rents in hk anyways, and thus not as attractive as it seems? i heard hk is just as expensive, if not less, than nyc.

as "ibhopeful" said above, I really was not kidding about the expat pay / lifestyle here.

It should be noted that offers at GS and other places like that will require 100% fluency in written/spoken chinese as well as 95% (like a high-school educated american) level of English, so it's basically impossible for a white westerner to get an analyst position at these big banks here (though I've seen it once or twice). Mostly it's chinese and american born chinese. Where I work is a smaller PE firm and a lot of what i do is in english so the language requirements weren't quite as insane (you still need to be well above "proficient"). Not knowing the language is limiting though - I feel constrained by it daily and its tough to really be "all that you can be" here, even if your chinese is "very solid".

The girl situation is glorious. There are 10+ clubs in Beijing constantly filled with foreigners (and hot asian chicks looking for rich foreign boyfriends) as well as 100+ similar locations in Shanghai. It's definetly easier to find Chinese girls (and no, i don't mean prostitutes - though they will find you too so avoid getting to wasted without others there to "protect you from yourself"), but American and euorpean chicks are around too if you're not into the whole "asian persuasion" thing.

One note about the girl situation is that while there's more foreign guys here than girls (maybe 60/40), the VAST majority of foreign chicks here have no interest in chinese/asian guys. On the other hand, 99% of guys here are interested in both chinese/asian chicks as well as foreigners - so in reality, the odds are tilted HEAVILY in your favor. I'm not saying you should come out here looking for a new wife (though I've found a pretty serious GF lately), but as an analyst or someone below like 28, it's pretty tight.

There are negatives though - for example, I've been here for a few years and am getting good experience, but am starting to worry that my skills won't translate properly back home in the US. Laws/regulations are different, we generally use a less formal, institutionalized and more cowboy type investment process, etc... I also work in RE PE and we don't use argus for modeling, while most US firms do...

HK is in some ways the best of both worlds, but it's WAY more expensive there and the girl situation isn't quite as obscene. If you start in HK you can move up to the mainland or back home to the US pretty easily, which is sick.

anyone knows when UBS MS CITI HK IBD give out first round intervew?? thanks

where are people thinking of living in hong kong? service apartments or a traditional one? which region?

im thinking midlevels serviced-apartments (sacrifice space for convenience). will be happy with a studio... realistically won't be at home much anyway

I need to do more DD on this though. Kowloon is a possibility, it's a lot cheaper. I just want to live in a non-shady apartment though

are most banks done with recruiting for HK office? I have been in touch with HRs at different banks, they all told me phone screening starts in November. But obviously some monkeys on WSO have gone through interviews/got offers already... Is the process different between target/non-target?