Have always been interested in Sovereign Advisory, but the top groups are in Paris and I guess that they all require fluent French (?) Should I give up on this ”dream” or is there still an opportunity? Also, apart from LAZ/Roths, what other alternatives are there - perhaps GSA?
A bit about my background:
Double Masters degree in two relevant fields from HEC / Sciences Po
BB IB internship (BAML/MS/JPM)
Not fully fluent in French however…
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if you completed the Double Degree between HEC and Sciences Po surely your French is at least decent? The rest of your profile looks pretty good otherwise
Did not want to disclose too much sorry - i have a double masters from either HEC/Sciences Po and another European school. So, basic french i would say
I've spoken about this at length in a series of other comments here. You may find useful info and maybe some answers in what I wrote. Otherwise just to answer your question quickly: it depends. If your DD is HEC and another school in Public Affairs (which only leaves Sc. Po., and Freie, previously MGIMO and I think Georgetown). Your chances will be pretty good of getting an interview, however depending on your background you may get wrecked by the econ questions at interview. If Your DD is in something else it would better be very, very econ focused.
If your DD is at Sc. Po. with a very large part of econ, or with a Bsc in Econ, you'll be ok. If your DD is in Pol. Sci. or IR, your chances will be pretty low of even getting an interview, and getting through the written test would require you to learn Politiques Économiques by Benassy-Quere off by heart.
French fluency is almost a pre-requisite, especially since it's one of the most common languages they use with clients. Unless you speak another useful language (Russian, Spanish, Arabic), your chances are near nil without french.
Experience-wise, I'd think you're fine. you probably fit. Typically french candidates would have some kind of experience in Public Affairs or in the Public Sector, but it's not a pre-requisite.
It's not impossible, but I'd say it mostly comes down to your languages. If you do speak one of the other languages, your french is decent, and you have a very solid grounding in Econ, go for it. If you're lacking languages and your DD is something such as Sciences Po. + IR or Public Policy or HEC + Engineering and you don't have a background in Econ, you're probably not going to get an interview.
Hey, currently preparing for next round interviews at Laz/Roth/GSA. I'm surprised that you deem econ mastery so important - I thought that while it's good to understand core concepts (bop, monetary policy etc) finance knowledge is more important since these are banks after all and not economic consultancies?
Personal bias I guess, maybe this was the area I was weaker in, so they pressed me harder to see what my limits where. Whereas I'm more at ease with finance. I've also noticed that people with a pure finance background (HEC or Sc. Po. MiF) don't tend to get interviews as surely as people with a very solid background in Econ (Polytechnique MIE or ENS MIE). It is very case by case in the end, but generally they don't deviate too much from a certain formula. Good luck with your interviews!
Solid advice, thanks! So I guess that my educational background is good based on your description as I have studied Econ both at BSc and MSc level. The big challenge is therefore my French skills since I'm not fluent.
What would you recommend me to do if I want to work at LAZ/Roths/GSA? For instance on the application portal for Roths it says that French is mandatory so I should not even bother applying I guess. Should I start reaching out to someone at the firm and network extensively maybe?
Thanks for sharing and just wanna express my thankfulness and respect to you!
If I'm a foreigner (Chinese male) with a not that decent msc as my first maser (EDHEC/ESCP/Dauphine GE/msc), then try a second master like HEC or Sci.Po, do you think that would be possible to get into SA? (Say my French is fluent)
Much appreciated and have a nice day!
You do not need French to do sovereign advisory. However you should speak a second language like Arabic, Russian, Spanish.
Note there are many firms with sovereign advisory teams. Most recently Alvarez and Marsal started a team, also Potomac, White Oak, the top investment banks.
If you want to do consulting then GSA but maybe try McKinsey because they have a stronger name brand and global offices etc. Also top government officials are ex McKinsey.
Lazard is good, Roths, JP, I think GS got rid of that team. Also DCM teams or public sector or do global macro and same sovereign work.
Hope that helps bud! But yeah many posts here talking about this topic.
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