Hi all!
I live in a small central/eastern European country which lacks mature financial markets. As a consequence of this, bona fide investment banks do not have a significant presence here. The only two domestic banks are virtually unknown internationally and are 8-10 man operations which means recruitment opportunities are fairly rare. In general the finance industry is in its baby shoes compared to somewhere like the UK, USA, etc.
I am finishing my university studies and will try to find work abroad, but in the event that this fails, what would you guys recommend as the "next best thing" to actual banking, or rather what do you think could be a decent entry level finance career in such a setting?
To give you a better idea, the Big 4 are well established here, and both KPMG and Deloitte have corporate finance advisory operations which recruit fairly regularly. Also there are the usual TAS/TS arms set up at each firm, however in my experience the dealflow is very spotty and in these times entry level and senior associates are relegated to doing audit work sometimes for weeks or months.
Also, a BB bank has set up an office here, however it is basically an SSC doing BO work such as controlling, data analytics, etc.
Aside from these there are some boutique S/T firms and some pension funds run by large insurance companies and retail banks (many of which are slowly moving out of the country due to unfavorable regulatory infrastructure).
What would you guys do in this situation? Any and all advice and/or comments would be appreciated.
If you really want banking and are in Europe, by far your best bet would be to apply for (and hopefully get) an investment banking job in a major European financial centre such as London (or really anywhere near you where there is a market for investment banking services).
Try to network into the major hubs. Most of us didn't go to school in New York.
Thanks guys, I'm doing my best to network my way into the UK or another similar hub. I really just made this topic to get some ideas for a contingency plan in case things don't work out and I don't find any options abroad in time.
It has been my impression that big 4 accounting firms' corporate finance practices in emerging markets basically dominate the investment banking landscape. They have the resources and brand names, and in these markets don't have the same regulation regarding conflicts of interest. If you want to stay in your home country, I would suggest delving into those options a bit more - I understand that your initial impressions have not been positive, but it might be beneficial to talk to a few more people.
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