Hey Monkeys,
I know this is a tiring post where everyone is just arguing which BB is the best but I realize most of the ranking posts for dedicated to US. While I see a few dated posts surrounding this area, I'd appreciate any input in terms of prestige, deal flows, exit opps, and general comments about the BBs in Asia. Thanks a lot folks.
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following
Japan: Nomura, Mizuho, Sumitomo Mitsui
China: CICC, CITIC Securities, CSC Financial, Huatai Securities
Thanks for commenting. What about HK?
HK has all the bulge bracket banks I believe, CICC/CITIC also have presence there.
I'd add MUFJ and Daiwa Securities for Japan.
As someone who worked in BB IB in HK for 4 years, my views are:
Prestige: generally in line with the perceptions re. IBs in the US. The only exception will be the so called "elite boutiques" as they have very small presence so are quite irrelevant in most cases
Deal flows: purely in terms of number of deals, the likes of CITIC mentioned by other posters actually have good deal flows especially in IPO and blocktrades. That being said, that is obviously not to say that the BBs don't have deal flow especially for the high profile ones
Exit opps: if you are at any of the BBs, especially the better ones, you can pretty much get to the interviewing round as long as you meet the language requirement (e.g. the position may be looking for a native Chinese speaker, native Korean speaker, etc.)
I won't go into the "rankings" of BBs as it's quite pointless (although one can argue tiers exist whether you like it or not), but PM me if you have any specific questions
Do HK PEs hire from US banks at all?
By "HK PE" are you referring to: (1) Global PEs based in HK (2) Chinese PEs (3) Pan Asian PEs with HQ in HK?
For all 3 I can tell you most of the roles are filled up by those from BBs, whether it'd be American or European (really, just CS because you don't see my DB and UBS these days)
Are you doing an international stint or looking to get direct hired overseas?
HSBC has a large presence in Asia but otherwise agree with above in regards to Chinese banks (I'm not too well versed in the Japan finance scene). HK certainly follows a lot of the American bulge "rankings" but with a few key additions and removals. For example I'd say BAML or Citi would rank below in HK specifically to HSBC.
Interested to hear people's thoughts or experiences with CDB (china development bank) as well literally out of curiousity since they have a pretty sweet building in central.
Disclaimer I worked in HK for a couple weeks a few years ago so my CDB comment may be outdated but curious nonetheless given most Asian countries have a development bank (DBJ, DBS) which wear many hats within their locals
HSBC does a lot of DCM deals in Asia, but not so much in higher profile M&A or ECM deals (they may slot in their name as one of the underwriters but you don't see them often as sponsors for HK IPOs, for example).
Beg to differ on your point re. BAML and Citi "ranked" a notch below HSBC. Although I don't want to get into the "ranking" game, not sure whether you can say HSBC is on par with the 2 companies you mentioned from perspectives of "perception" (as reflected in exit opps) or comps (more so for VP and above). Speaking strictly for IB business
Look if you're a part of that scene, then I believe that especially given HSBC's balance sheet. Agreed it's stupid to rank them but again my experience is very anecdotal from friends who work there - though it may be an outdated view
Agreed. HSBC overall ranks far below Citi and BAML
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