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S&T in Hong Kong (aussie)
 

LLcoolJ's picture
 
Points)
 on 3/11/10 at 11:52pm

I am an Australian citizen who wants to start (and keep) his trading career in HK. How do I achieve this?

How hard is it to get directly hired into HK?
Is doing a year in Sydney then pushing for an internal transfer a realistic strategy? If so, is it really nessary to do a year? Can I start pushing after 3 or 6 months? On the flipside, will it take years for me to become valuable enough to get myself a transfer?
What banks have a large HK-presence? (e.g. Barclays in HK is small)
Any particularly noted bank desks, markets or products that are considered strong/weak in HK? (its my understanding that Asian financial markets are still underdeveloped)

I don't want to say that I think NYC or London are a bit past their peaks, but to me, it seems like it's Asia's turn to grow, and HK is the perfect place to be for an ambitious young man. Am I wrong?

Is there anything I should know about trading in HK, or being a expatriate in general?

tbcthk's picture

Do you speak Chinese?

IB
 
Points)
 on 3/12/10 at 12:02am

Do you speak Chinese?

LLcoolJ's picture

No. As far as I know, for a

 
Points)
 on 3/12/10 at 12:03am

No. As far as I know, for a trader English is the only required language.

chunkymunky's picture

I'm actually interested in

ST
(Monkey, 39
 
Points)
 on 3/12/10 at 1:27am

I'm actually interested in this topic myself.
Can someone in S&T in HK (or who has worked in HK) confirm that English is the only language required?

LLcoolJ's picture

I would say if you were

 
Points)
 on 3/12/10 at 1:56am

I would say if you were working in Sales, then you would be required to speak Chinese. But traders aren't 'client-facing' and as far as I know, the actual trading floors in HK are English.

BigFatPanda's picture

English IS the only language

AM
 
Points)
 on 3/12/10 at 8:33am

English IS the only language required in HK (I studied abroad there last year and built a decent network while I was there). You have to remember that HK was controlled by the UK forever, so everything in HK is bilingual. Besides, Cantonese is really tough to learn.

Any bank you call will answer the phone in English.

Sexy's picture

Learn Canto. Will help your

IB
(Chimp, 12
 
Points)
 on 3/12/10 at 8:58am

Learn Canto. Will help your life at HK

In reply to LLcoolJ
earthwalker7's picture

LLcoolJ: No. As far as I

PE
 
Points)
 on 5/8/13 at 12:43am
LLcoolJ:

No. As far as I know, for a trader English is the only required language.

Technically English is the only REQUIRED language, but Mandarin is unofficially required.
Or, to put it another way, if you're not already coming in with a massive book of business, you need to compete with a lot of people who DO speak local languages. So... what's the rationale for hiring you?

As someone who was working for bulge bracket in HK for many years, often I heard my boss (who spoke no Asian languages but came with 20 years US experience in banking) speak of other candidates who did not have local languages somewhat derisively, and labeled them as uncompetitive relative to others.

LCYM's picture

HK is a big equity town so it

HF
(Monkey, 53
 
Points)
 on 5/8/13 at 2:40am

HK is a big equity town so it helps if you're trading cash equities. If not, Singapore would be more realistic for you. Big banks tend to internally move experienced traders "to" HK sometimes. Lateral is more common in HK. Some BBs run their FX books in Singapore or Tokyo during Asian session, so you also need to find out what products you're interested in. For rates and commodities it is a similar situation. My buddy flew in to interview with three of the biggest BBs last month with a good track record (years of $10-15mm revenues p.a. prop + flow) running two NDF books himself, VP to D level, a native Chinese speaker with years of overseas experience and an MBA from the US, and still didn't get the job. It's not easy to find a peer candidate with better profile, but it is very easy to find a "cheaper" candidate with similar profile. (Cheaper meaning all-in costs) Get an idea.

And no, HK is a very established money center. Don't confuse HK with Shanghai. Make sure you don't say similar stuff (like the OP) to the interviewer if you get an interview. Find out how advanced HKMA and SFC are in terms of regulation etc before you attempt to look for a job in HK. You will need to convince them why they should hire you, apply a working visa for you, and hopefully give you housing (housing is non-existent nowadays for noobs) while they can just hire a random local guy easily. From a cost perspective, this neither makes sense to the banks nor to you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk you out of it. I'm just telling you the facts.

If you want to "start" trading, try to make that happen in your hometown first. The successful Aussie traders I personally know, actually quite a few, all traded their way up from Sydney to Singapore then/or to HK. Your problem is not language and it will never be. You need to start trading and have a track record and increase your exposure to different Asian markets, learn the differences and dynamics, find your strength, and then think about where to go.

Good luck.

Invest first, investigate later.

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