Foreign Opportunities in the HF space
Hi All -
Current IB Analyst who is currently in the process for a HF. I was not sure what I wanted to do (just realized I did not want to go to PE) but after going through this process, it became very evident the public markets was my cup of tea. However in the case this opportunity doesn't work out, I wanted to inquire about the possibility of working abroad for a HF? Working and living in Europe has been a dream of mine and I wanted to know if it's possible for an American like me who has covered mainly US transactions, to go abroad? I understand sectors well, but obviously might lack in knowledge of respective markets.
I'd ideally like to not go to London, and go somewhere like Spain / France, but not sure those opportunities are viable without working in those geographies (I speak both languages). Would maybe pursuing a brand-name opportunity right now open more doors for international opportunities in the HF space down the road?
Best,
Vidur
Best thing you could do is probably join in US a HF with offices in Europe to and ask to relocate down the line.
HF space here in Europe isn't as exciting as US and most opportunities are in London. That said, more shops opened offices in continental Europe after Brexit.
Don't know any HF in Spain, but best locations ex-London would probably be Paris and maybe Zürich. Italy has really a few opportunities in Milan. France has something even in Côte d'Azur, but still few stuff ex Paris. Geneva (CH) has some shops there (Millenium, Brevan, Pictet, BlueCrest, Jabre Capital) but nothing huge overall.
Hi,
For personal reasons I'd like to live and work in France, or maybe Switzerland, (semi fluent French) and I'm very interested in a HF or maybe LO career. You mentioned that there is a small HF presence in Paris and the Cote d'azur. If you have time, I'd appreciate asking a few questions as it seems you have a good understanding of the landscape.
-How do you start to find names to look into? How do you do DD on names?
-Are there recruiters particularly good for the French market? (currently working in London BB IB)? Is networking important?
-how important is fluent/native French for working in French/Swiss HF/LO? (if you know)
-if it wouldn't be too much, could you share some names? Either HFs or LOs. Or, if you know the specific word en francais I should be looking for (fonds d'investissment?), this would also be very helpful
Thanks!
Ex-London you need to have EU citizenship, or else it's impossible. Visas are only conceded to very senior/special people because the government requires the employer to prove it does not exist any EU person suitable for the same job.
In London, getting a visa is a bit easier in theory, even though in practice only a handful of places would consider sponsoring that for a non-senior employee given costs / operational burden / sufficient local supply.
Good for you to know also that comp in London/Switzerland is 30-40% lower than in the US (or 20-30% if you work in Zug where tax rates are 10%), and 50-60% lower in other European cities.
Forgot to add - that means the only feasible way to get there is by transferring from US offices to EU offices, which is seamless visa-wise.
I personally don’t like Europe for investing, even less so from a HF perspective.
If your mentality is growth, Asia will be best ex-USA. I don’t see Europe as a hot-bed of growth, especially with all the political and macro turmoil. China you’re gonna be at a disadvantage if you don’t understand the culture significantly well. It is really hard to bake in political risk/lack of transparency + different mentalities to the West (especially e-commerce/digital such as Weixin). Anywhere else (ex.: LATAM) is more of a value mindset or long-horizon growth cause there is: political risk/lack of transparency, shady accounting, deeply strong incumbent players, liquidity issues, and significantly more inside information going on, especially among smaller publicly traded names).
If you have a value mentality, definitely consider LATAM or any shady accounting/transparency risk + high interest rates nation. Very strong emphasis on profitability and Net Debt/EBITDA regardless of scale.
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