American going to business school in the US -> investment banking associate in Europe (London)?

This is a bit of an out of the blue question, but I am curious whether anyone can help.

I'm an American going to attend an M7 business school. I want to work in Europe long term, probably PE.

I am thinking of IB -> PE path in Europe. But is this possible for someone who only has American citizenship? Would I be able to get a summer associate positoin at an investment bank in Europe given that I would have to be supplied with a work visa + Brexit uncertainty? Would love any insights that someone might have.

Fyi I do have a bit of a network in London that I could use to my advantage, but it isn't extremely strong.

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I have family in Europe that I'd like to be closer to. I've also lived in London for shorter periods of time and loved it for many reasons (more than NY, which is where I worked before business school).

I also think that I could do well in London in a business sense. A bit of a "softer" style of business than in the U.S. which possibly fits a bit better with my personality.

 
Most Helpful

Yes it’s doable; The bigger issue here, moreso than work authorization, is that banks have significantly scaled back on OCR for London offices as most analyst stay on to become associates. The active associate recruiting banks are limited to American banks (Citi, MS, GS, BAML), the others recruit on an adhoc basis and will focus on European schools (INSEAD, LBS). I would also say that recruiting is more competitive for London as a good chunk of people have some sort of finance experience. A good strategy will be to recruit for NY and London, depending on bsnk, and if you end up in NY, shoot to transfer at the two year mark. Also bear in mind that the associate program in some banks in London (e.g Citi) is 4 years

 

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