Summer finance internship in Asia/ general advice?

I'm a first year who has just started looking into the finance industry, and my goal would be to eventually land a job in ibd in Asia. However, several things here are working against me. I'm an international student studying in US at a non-target t20 liberal arts college, 0 family connections, school hardly has any alums in these countries, let alone in finance, and have absolutely no experience. I want to do a summer internship finance related this summer in Singapore, but realize I'm really late to the game. What types of firms/ jobs should I aim to do cold-emailing considering my circumstances? Also, any advice in general for networking in Asia specifically? It's kind of hard to set up informational interviews when I'm abroad.

 

get a list of alumni who work in finance in asia and try to email them first. may be difficult, but it's already pretty late in the game

If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars. J. Paul Getty
 

What is your background? Do you speak Mandarin?

If you're looking to work in Hong Kong or mainland China, firms are increasingly just looking to hire native Chinese who also speak fluent Mandarin (but attended top U.S. colleges). I think Singapore might be a bit easier since English is the standard language of business there.

A few things are going for you, though. Firstly, since you're a first year student and already looking into this stuff, you are ahead of the game. If you do an internship in Asia this summer, it'll make it easier to return to the region in your next summers and for FT. Firms are wary of international applicants coming to HK/Singapore, enjoying life there/being a tourist for 2 years, and then returning to NY/London/home. Previous work experience in Asia early on helps show your commitment.

Secondly, it's much easier to work in HK/Singapore than in the U.S., as an international student, due to the work authorization process. In the U.S., only the largest banks are willing to sponsor international students for the full H1B work visa. In HK and Singapore, it is much more common for firms to import expats from the U.S./UK and the work authorization process is a lot easier. I was sponsored for a summer internship before in HK by a non-bulge bracket bank.

For this summer, don't limit yourself to contacting/cold-calling boutique IBD firms. As a freshman, just doing something related to finance (sales and trading, asset management/wealth management, any type of banking) will really put you ahead of your peers. With no connections, and as a first year student, working at a BB bank will almost certainly be impossible. However, there are many boutique firms in HK/Singapore, with less formal/structured application processes for interns.

I would find all the small/boutique finance companies in Hong Kong and Singapore, locate any email address you can for HR, and send along a cover letter and resume. If you don't hear back anything within a week (which you usually won't - don't get discouraged), then follow-up with a phone call, reiterating your interest.

Also, look on LinkedIn for anyone who works at these companies. This is probably the best way possible, in my opinion, to get an internship at a boutique in Asia coming from a U.S. school. Other expats from the U.S. or your home country working in Asia will be the most likely people that will want to help you, even if they are not alumni from your university.

There's an older thread on WSO (//www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/regional-boutiques) where someone posted a list of all the investment banks in various regions. Maybe this can help as a starting point (note that it includes all banks, not just boutiques):

Hong Kong: Scotia Capital Inc. Credit Suisse (USA), Inc. Guoco Group Ltd. (SEHK:53) Bank of East Asia Ltd. (SEHK:23) Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. TD Securities Inc. China Everbright Ltd. (SEHK:165) Lippo China Resources Ltd. (SEHK:156) Lippo Ltd. (SEHK:226) CITIC International Financial Holdings Ltd. (SEHK:183) HongKong Chinese Ltd. (SEHK:655) Melco International Development Ltd. (SEHK:200) China Credit Holdings Ltd. (SEHK:185) China International Capital Corporation Limited CASH Financial Services Group Ltd. (SEHK:8122) E2-Capital Holdings Ltd. (SEHK:378) Value Convergence Holdings Ltd. (SEHK:8101) Barclays Capital Kingsway International Holdings Ltd. (TSX:KIH) Softbank Investment International Strategic Ltd. (SEHK:648) SW Kingsway Capital Holdings Ltd. (SEHK:188) CSC Securities (HK) Ltd. VXL Capital Ltd. (SEHK:727) Arietti & Partners Srl Asean Focus Group Pty Ltd Asian Capital Partners Bear Stearns Asia Limited BOC International Holdings Ltd. Cazenove Group Limited Chase JF Christensen CITIC Capital Holdings Limited Citicorp International Ltd. CLSA Limited Core Pacific -Yamaichi International (H.K.) Limited Corporate Development International CSFB, China Business GC Capital (Asia) Limited ICEA Securities Limited Illington Capital, LLC IRG Ltd. Japan Asia Holdings Limited JS Cresvale International Limited Latitude Capital Group Lehman Brothers Asia Ltd. Lehman Brothers Inc. N M Rothschild & Sons Limited Sino-European Investment Management Ltd. Somerley Ltd. UBS Investment Bank

Singapore: Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (LSE:RBS) Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MER) Scotia Capital Inc. NATIXIS (ENXTPA:KN) Toshiba Capital (Asia) Ltd. Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. (SGX:G07) DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (SGX:D05) United Overseas Bank Ltd. (SGX:U11) Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd. (SGX:O39) Malayan Banking Bhd (KLSE:MAYBANK) DBS Bank Ltd. Noble Resources Pte. Ltd. Asia Financial Holdings Pte. Ltd. China Aviation Oil Singapore Corp. Ltd. (SGX:G92) Oaktree Capital Management, LLC The Capital Group Companies, Inc. Straits Trading Co. Ltd. (SGX:S20) TD Securities Inc. Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX:S68) UOB-Kay Hian Holdings Ltd. (SGX:U10) KIM Eng Holdings Ltd. (SGX:K50) Goldtron Ltd. (SGX:536) J.p. Morgan Securities Asia Private Limited UOB Kay Hian Research Pte Ltd. Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Capital Group (singapore) Pte Hong Leong Finance Ltd. (SGX:S41) The Central Depository (pte) Limited RiskMetrics Group, Inc. Jefferies & Company, Inc. Kim Eng Securities Pte. Ltd. Cambridge Associates LLC Merrill Lynch (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. CIMB-GK Securities Pte. Ltd. REFCO Singapore Pte. Ltd. OCBC Securities Private Limited Alvarez & Marsal, LLC Pacific Investment Management Co LLC Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC Khong Guan Flour Milling Ltd. H&Q Asia Pacific, Ltd. Second Chance Properties Ltd. (SGX:528) IPCO International Ltd. (SGX:I11) GK Goh Holdings Ltd. (SGX:G41) Barclays Capital L.E.K. Consulting Chuan Hup Holdings Ltd. (SGX:C33) BlackRock Financial Management Inc. Futuristic Group Ltd. (SGX:5CE) Westcomb Financial Group Ltd. (SGX:5EC) Ecoban Finance Limited ABN AMRO Private Banking Asia Alexandra Holdings Ltd. Asean Focus Group Pty Ltd AV Capital Pty. Ltd. Beacon Advisory Cazenove Group Limited CLSA Limited Clsa Singapore Pte. Ltd. DBS Vickers Securities Pte Ltd, Research Division Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd Dresdner Kleinwort, Research Division E*TRADE Asia Ltd. Far Eastern Bank Limited General Securities Investments Ltd. Hotel Malaysia Ltd. IDEAglobal, Ltd. IRG Ltd. ITF Global Partners (Innovation Technology and Finance) Joint Asian Derivatives Pte. Ltd. JPMorgan Private Bank Keppel TatLee Bank Ltd. Keppel TatLee Finance Ltd Kim Eng Research Pte. Ltd. Latona Associates, Inc. N M Rothschild & Sons (Singapore) Limited N M Rothschild & Sons Limited NIBC Bank Ltd. Ong First Pte Ltd. Overseas Union Bank Ltd. Overseas Union Securities Ltd. Pan Pacific Public Co. Ltd. Pickering Pacific Pte Ltd Pictet & Cie RMF Investment Group Saxo Capital Markets Ltd. SG Securities Stern Stewart & Co. Stone Forest M&A Pte. Ltd. Tullett Prebon (Singapore) Ltd. UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Vickers Ballas Holdings Ltd.

Don't worry about the logistics of setting up interviews. These will either be over the phone, or in some cases, Skype, and I promise it's not as awkward as it sounds.

 
asiamoney:

What is your background? Do you speak Mandarin?

If you're looking to work in Hong Kong or mainland China, firms are increasingly just looking to hire native Chinese who also speak fluent Mandarin (but attended top U.S. colleges). I think Singapore might be a bit easier since English is the standard language of business there.

Do you know if this is also true for summer internships in Japan?

 

Thanks asiamoney lots of useful advice there. I'm actually a Singaporean citizen who speaks Mandarin, though not as well as I would like to. Is there anywhere I can obtain a list of finance firms apart from banks? Also, should I mention that I would be willing to work for free?

 

It'll definitely help that you're from the region, and that you at least speak some Mandarin. As for finding a list of all finance firms... honestly, I just kept on searching with Google/LinkedIn and was able to find a lot. Not sure if there's any general list of all finance companies in the region.

The issue of pay is tricky. For smaller places, I'd feel comfortable mentioning that you're okay with unpaid, since an internship would likely be less formal at a smaller place anyways. I wouldn't mention it right away when cold-emailing/cold-calling larger firms, but if you get the chance to speak with anyone there over the phone, then I might. Other people might have different perspectives on this issue, so I'd ask around.

And I think you're doing the right thing by being open to unpaid internships... the experience alone will be worth it, and pay off later down the road.

 

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No translation team...if the group needs something translated, then we do it ourselves.
Any other suggestions? I ask b/c I actually interviewed for a BB (GS/MS) operations role (waiting to hear back) where I feel I would learn more about "finance" than my translation job...in the future I would ideally like to work as a fixed income PM or something close to that. I just thought that IBD would be a huge resume booster but I guess not in my case......

 

From what i have heard BNPP is strong in euro debt, project and structured finance and 2nd tier in all others. I agree, if is what you got, make the best of it. Cool I think because in my case is that I wanted to do structured finance ; ). Btw, biased and relatively unfunded opinion, take it on your own risk!.

Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards. - Tacitus Dr. Nick Riviera: Hey, don't worry. You don't have to make up stories here. Save that for court!
 
El_Mono:
From what i have heard BNPP is strong in euro debt, project and structured finance and 2nd tier in all others. I agree, if is what you got, make the best of it. Cool I think because in my case is that I wanted to do structured finance ; ). Btw, biased and relatively unfunded opinion, take it on your own risk!.

u shd really read before posting.

 
El_Mono:
From what i have heard BNPP is strong in euro debt, project and structured finance and 2nd tier in all others. I agree, if is what you got, make the best of it. Cool I think because in my case is that I wanted to do structured finance ; ). Btw, biased and relatively unfunded opinion, take it on your own risk!.

Yeah, I heard they are strong in derivates in Europe. They don't have much of a presence in US though. I think they are mainly Europe and Asia centric.

Btw, does anyone know how to get league tables for IBs in Asia Pacific alone? Or even better, South East Asia Region?

 

any other thoughts? I'm very close to emailing him to see if I can interview now to start Sept.

How will this effect FT recruiting? I might be able to take summer'12 classes and graduate then instead of waiting for the Fall semester. I'm sure Asia is less structured and I would be able to start after my summer classes.

How about the U.S.? Don't most analysts start in August/July following graduation here?

 

I mean if your goal is to eventually work there why wouldn't you do it? It seems like you have a pretty strong connection to push your resume forward, so chances are you'd have a pretty good shot at landing a job at a damn good bank right?

 
Black Jack:
Unless the boutique here is one that people have heard of it won't make any difference- more important will be what you do at the bank and if you learn enough to impress people during interviews/talk about your experience.

Some say that interviewers look down on international internships because they're not too sure of how the culture and work differs in that area compared to US, is that true?

 

Not being sarcastic, but are you applying to be a cook?

"I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature."
 

I'm well aware of the fact that, it's not relevant work experience, but it is work in a foreign country and I do want to show the employer, that I have the experience in working in a stressful and foreign environment.

 

English is the common mode of communication in Singapore & HK - even in HK where Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) is used in everyday communications.

If you're applying from London, trying to get a stint in Singapore/HK is almost similar to that of applying to the US in my opinion. You're located outside the region where the bigger players recruit from local schools. Not impossible, just not as direct/straightforward.

 
thecoldburns:

English is the common mode of communication in Singapore & HK - even in HK where Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) is used in everyday communications.

If you're applying from London, trying to get a stint in Singapore/HK is almost similar to that of applying to the US in my opinion. You're located outside the region where the bigger players recruit from local schools. Not impossible, just not as direct/straightforward.

Do you have first hand experience with this? I've always heard that Mandarin fluency is essential.

 
karlsson65:
thecoldburns:

English is the common mode of communication in Singapore & HK - even in HK where Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) is used in everyday communications.

If you're applying from London, trying to get a stint in Singapore/HK is almost similar to that of applying to the US in my opinion. You're located outside the region where the bigger players recruit from local schools. Not impossible, just not as direct/straightforward.

Do you have first hand experience with this? I've always heard that Mandarin fluency is essential.

Where are you referring to?

But to answer your question, I work in the region. My experience is that Mandarin is crucial if you're working with China e.g PE investments into China or M&A of a Chinese company. But otherwise, English works just fine.

 

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