Asia: Boutiques versus Non-BB Balance Sheet Banks

Trying to advise a friend looking to lateral up in HK / SG. They were previously at a local bank.

If you had the option of a Laz/Moelis/Evercore vs HSBC/Nomura/BNP, which would be better in this environment? Note Asia is very different and I have not seen those EBs on any deals ever.

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Evercore is very strong in Asia relative to its size (SG regional HQ, very small satellite office in HK), and has advised quite a few significant regional deals recently (e.g. Grab's SPAC acquisition), but the office is largely carried by one rainmaker. Heard Moelis does fairly well in HK, not sure about SG. Both are fairly sweaty though. As for Lazard, not sure what they actually do in Asia. If it's Evercore / Moelis, would be worth considering and I think it there would be fairly good exposure and experience, though hours are very long.

As for HSBC / Nomura / BNP, all 3 aren't great in SG, but in HK HSBC does fairly well. Very strong DCM / levfin teams, though market is fairly weak now, and FIG / TMT / consumer teams are also competitive. Hours are very good, but pay has not caught up to street after recent increases. 

Purely from a business perspective, probably Evercore > HSBC / Moelis > Nomura / BNP > Lazard. Open to hearing thoughts from others on this as well.

 

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