The Hong Kong Route
While there are bits and pieces of information on lifestyle and banking in Hong Kong, few threads have the full overview. Can someone please give the general overview of the career path in Hong Kong? I read somewhere that in HK, most IB analysts stay on as associates as compared to NY, where analysts move to PE or HF. Also, while most threads just say tax rate is "lower" because its 15%, few clarified that you have to pay US taxes too, except that you're exempt for the first 90k provided that you meet a few prerequisites. So can someone working in HK give the full picture of a career in Hong Kong?
Topics that will be helpful:
1. Is compensation in PE really lower than that of IB in HK?
2. What about HF analyst compensation? How established are hedge funds in HK? Anything different about HFs in HK and those in NY?
3. Hours are longer than NY. True or False?
4. Housing stipend? Still exist or something in the past?
5. Year-end bonus - what's the usual range?
6. People say HK is more fun than NY. Care to explain why? I was a SA in HK and didn't get to party much. Barely at all to be accurate.
7. How are the girls there? Are there any hot white girls or mostly Asian? Do you converse with them in clubs/bars with English or Chinese?
8. What is the recruiting process for PE and HF? Do headhunters reach out to IB analysts or is the process more unstructured? An overview would be great.
9. Also, for those of you who've been to Macau, how are the Macau girls that hang around the casinos and hotels? I heard they're excellent quality, but is sexual diseases common?
Basically I'm trying to make this a discussion that captures all the scattered bits and pieces and provide a full-picture of working in Hong Kong.
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.
bump...
bump...
Q7....nice one!
Q7....nice one!
Interested about Q7
Interested about Q7
TheFisher wrote: While there
While there are bits and pieces of information on lifestyle and banking in Hong Kong, few threads have the full overview. Can someone please give the general overview of the career path in Hong Kong? I read somewhere that in HK, most IB analysts stay on as associates as compared to NY, where analysts move to PE or HF. Also, while most threads just say tax rate is "lower" because its 15%, few clarified that you have to pay US taxes too, except that you're exempt for the first 90k provided that you meet a few prerequisites. So can someone working in HK give the full picture of a career in Hong Kong?
Topics that will be helpful:
1. Is compensation in PE really lower than that of IB in HK?
2. What about HF analyst compensation? How established are hedge funds in HK? Anything different about HFs in HK and those in NY?
3. Hours are longer than NY. True or False?
4. Housing stipend? Still exist or something in the past?
5. Year-end bonus - what's the usual range?
6. People say HK is more fun than NY. Care to explain why? I was a SA in HK and didn't get to party much. Barely at all to be accurate.
7. How are the girls there? Are there any hot white girls or mostly Asian? Do you converse with them in clubs/bars with English or Chinese?
Basically I'm trying to make this a discussion that captures all the scattered bits and pieces and provide a full-picture of working in Hong Kong.
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.
I can only comment on the last two, as I’ve only lived in HK, not worked. I currently work in NY.
HK is more fun than NY for many reasons. It’s warm year-round, cleaner, and easier to get around. There’s also more of diversity of things to do. There’s a huge nightlife scene but also beaches, mountains, islands etc, Happy Valley, etc not more than 30 minutes away. Always interesting events year round like Rugby Sevens, Dragonboats, etc. Tons of open bar deals where you pay $20 and drink all you want. Another cool thing is it’s so cheap and fast to pop over to Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. Tons of crazy shit to do in those places. The last thing that I think is overlooked sometimes is the expat community. Hard to explain but it’s real easy to meet new people and make connections.
Most of the cute girls I saw were Chinese. Not all tho
And do these Chinese girls
And do these Chinese girls converse in English or Chinese? I know the obvious answer here is Chinese but people always say HK is so international...
About the pay in Hong Kong,
About the pay in Hong Kong, WSJ just had a new article on how expats in Hong Kong, China, India and Vietnam receive the lowest take-home pay (keep in mind that the article didn't say much about cost of living) among those surveyed countries so we can't draw the quality of life among them)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240531119041...
My formula for success is rise early, work late and strike oil - JP Getty
As I understand it - The pay
As I understand it - The pay in HK at major banks and PE firms is global pay that is 100% inline with what you'd get paid in the U.S...
Hong Kong has some hot girls, primarily asians, but from what I've noticed they're not quite as friendly as girls on the mainland and less hot as well.
I don't speak cantonese so I always speak english with HK girls... NEVER speak to them in mandarin or they'll be offended.... actually don't speak to anyone in HK in mandarin unless they start of speaking mandarin to you or it's just a waitress or something... they could be pissed.
^ I don't speak Mandarin, but
^ I don't speak Mandarin, but curious why?
I don't 100% understand it,
I don't 100% understand it, but I think it's because some HK people feel they are above mainlanders, and they don't want to be confused as a mainlander... it's not quite like Taiwan, where people consider themselves from a different country, but there is a hint of that --- another theory is they get pissed off when white people speak mandarin better than they do (most native cantonese speakers have very bad tones in mandarin).... I'm not really sure
International Pymp wrote: I
I don't 100% understand it, but I think it's because some HK people feel they are above mainlanders, and they don't want to be confused as a mainlander... it's not quite like Taiwan, where people consider themselves from a different country, but there is a hint of that --- another theory is they get pissed off when white people speak mandarin better than they do (most native cantonese speakers have very bad tones in mandarin).... I'm not really sure
Haha I highly doubt its because they have bad tones in Mandarin.
sgang135
I don't 100% understand it, but I think it's because some HK people feel they are above mainlanders, and they don't want to be confused as a mainlander... it's not quite like Taiwan, where people consider themselves from a different country, but there is a hint of that --- another theory is they get pissed off when white people speak mandarin better than they do (most native cantonese speakers have very bad tones in mandarin).... I'm not really sure
Haha I highly doubt its because they have bad tones in Mandarin.
I only visit HK from time to time, but from what I gather, it's sort of the thought that they are 'above mainlanders' like Pymp said. Because in the past, people that came out of China that go to HK to make it big were seen as less educated, naive or 'backwards'. It's like the whole idea of a country boy or girl (or those seen as yokels) going to NYC to try and make it big. Mainlanders were also seen as crude, lacking etiquette/poise, or different in ethics (it doesn't help things when you hear of crap like fake baby formula sold that's harmful to babies, fake produce/eggs manufactured, bodily organs being harvested from Shenzhen, kids being kidnapped and have their limbs chopped off and forced to beg, etc.)
It is only fairly recently that China has produced a lot of "new money" types and have been heading to HK - buying up expensive brands or buying up real estate properties. I think there's less animosity towards those from China now (at least those who are seen as middle or upper class), but it still exists. They may see it as China affecting their way of life - now mandarin is being taught in schools, becoming an important skill for work, their real estate properties going up in value (both good and bad - but for those still looking to buy, definitely bad), etc.
I have a friend who's an expat (he's Indian who's got Western education) that won a bid to rent a new place, but he didn't have the highest bid. When he asked the landlord why he got it, she said the other bidder was someone from China/mainlander and she didn't want to rent to them. This could be her prejudice, but HK also has poor laws that don't protect landlord rights (there are cases where people can hole themselves in an apartment and not pay rent... and I guess a lot of those cases were mainlanders). Conversely, expats are generally treated well in HK (since a lot of expats are in very lucrative fields like banking, consulting, etc). That's how he explained it to me, anyway, and afterwards I had that confirmed by a few other friends and relatives in the city.
^ That is correct. North vs.
^ That is correct.
North vs. Southern Chinese stigmas at work. HK sees it as the "black money" (ie black market).encroachment on their QoL. Standard of living has not been that high in HK traditionally-safe to guess 70%+ of mall goers are from the mainland. You'll see differences in lines waiting to enter "luxury" stores (eg Chanel) that weren't there several years ago. Many residents still adhere to the traditional form of handwriting. The autonomous philosophy is still prevalent in the area, and residents tend to be very prideful about that.
If you have yellow fever, the place is crawling with all kinds. STDs included.
sgang135
I don't 100% understand it, but I think it's because some HK people feel they are above mainlanders, and they don't want to be confused as a mainlander... it's not quite like Taiwan, where people consider themselves from a different country, but there is a hint of that --- another theory is they get pissed off when white people speak mandarin better than they do (most native cantonese speakers have very bad tones in mandarin).... I'm not really sure
Haha I highly doubt its because they have bad tones in Mandarin.
I always figured it was because Hong Kong was pretty much the only place that was excluded from the forced Mandarinization that happened to the rest of China in the past 100 years and they're proud of being a Cantonese hold-out.
There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
Kenny_Powers_CFA
I don't 100% understand it, but I think it's because some HK people feel they are above mainlanders, and they don't want to be confused as a mainlander... it's not quite like Taiwan, where people consider themselves from a different country, but there is a hint of that --- another theory is they get pissed off when white people speak mandarin better than they do (most native cantonese speakers have very bad tones in mandarin).... I'm not really sure
Haha I highly doubt its because they have bad tones in Mandarin.
I always figured it was because Hong Kong was pretty much the only place that was excluded from the forced Mandarinization that happened to the rest of China in the past 100 years and they're proud of being a Cantonese hold-out.
Well there are some southern cities in China that also speak Cantonese.
But I think a lot of it has to do with the different values, and being different from 'communist China' of old. A partner from my firm mentioned he used to work in HK (he's caucasian). He thought that part of the reason why HK has expanded so quickly during the growth phases in the 60-70's is partly because of the origin of people there. During the revolution, the shift towards communism, some of the wealthier or better-off Chinese fled from China. His guess is that a lot of these wealthier or enterprising Chinese's traditions, way of thinking, education, combined with the capitalist format of the city, helped contribute to growth. It's an interesting theory.
An interesting side note: HK used to be extremely corrupt. It wasn't until they introduced the ICAC in the 70's (an agency against corruption) that HK was able to become a recognized place for business, investment and expansion by the west.
On Bandit's point for HK doesn't traditionally have high quality of life...HK has great wealth disparity, and those who can afford it, can live like kings. But those who don't, in worse case scenarios, are on the street or have to pay for 'cage homes' (there's a video on CNN about this). Agreed on the whole Chanel store line-ups point. People go to HK for luxury goods because: 1) No sales tax, 2) They're worried about getting fake stuff in China, even in the legit stores.
Though on the languages - I'm not sure why the Chinese government made the move to move to 'simplified Chinese' writing as opposed to keeping the 'traditional Chinese' (I'm sure it's explained by history, but I don't know too much on this). Chinese characters, however - the way they are put together - explain the background and reasoning as to how a word comes to be. Some of that gets lost in the simplified writing.
Going to attempt to sway the
Going to attempt to sway the thread back to OP's question.
Only going to answer the questions I know based on talking to friends in HK doing IB and my time in HK
1) I don't know about PE compensation, but IB compensation is in line with NY street standard.
3) Hours are more or less in line with NY hours, but more "not going to go anywhere" work is done.
4) I've asked about the housing stipend and 3+ analyst friends say its still there, which is contradictory to what I've heard in the press about HK doing away with these lucrative "expat packages". But hey, I'm trusting my sources more. In any case, it's unlikely the full cost of housing will be covered, but its nice that some of the rent will be subsidized.
6) Ever been to LKF?
7) LKF? Everyone speaks English. Mostly expats, asian american/canadian girls, study abroad crowds. But I have to say, if you can speak decent Cantonese in HK, you're going to unlock the door to another social network, and girls. ofc.
Banking.
MrV wrote: Going to attempt
See below: 1. Is compensation
Regarding the Mandarin
So do most IB analysts move
I have a couple of friends
Vz wrote: MrV wrote: Going
Banking.
MrV, care to address Q8 & 9?
Housing stipend: At BB's it
Oh one caveat - if you can't
^ How proficient in Chinese
WaterMargin wrote: ^ How
There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
Haha thanks Kenny. Just
I think best bank in the
Just moved to NYC from HK (am
lots more client exposure -
lots more client exposure -
Lot of useful stuff already
spoke to three MDs a few
^my understanding is that it
interesting....did you go out
Mandarin is definitely huge
bbjhva wrote: Mandarin is
Garp wrote: bbjhva
If you want to work at a BB
I'm not sure if it's possible
@ Intl Pymp: I have seen one
ibhopeful532 wrote: If you
Bump
RE: 7. How are the girls
Sorry for not posting
wikkidmeister
Quarterlife: About the pay in
bbjhva: ibhopeful532: If