HSBC V.S. Nomura in US
Fortunate enough to have offers for both. Which one is better in the U.S. in terms of prestige, exit opps, comp, etc. Any insights are super helpful! Thank you!
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I would say Nomura. HSBC's IB practice in the US is abysmal and I've seen no signs of growth or change. On the other hand, Nomura has massively expanded that IB practice since the recession and has a fairly strong financial sponsor/levfin group due to their virtue of being unregulated.
I would second Nomura.
Yep Nomura is clearly stronger in the US
Disclaimer: I don’t work at either firm. Both firms do similar size deals in US as well as lots of cross border deals. HSBC is one of the largest commercial banks in the world and often gets pigeonholed into that category. However, I think with Brexit as well as negative interest rates in Europe, HSBC will have to expand into North American markets. Whether can do that successfully is too tough to call.
Nomura probably has the edge right now. But I’d suggest going where you liked the people more rather than worry about which one is better.
I've heard (from insiders following the voluntary terminations so grain of salt here) that HSBC is actually looking to offload their US operations due to continued bad performance, continued regulatory issues, and the toll it takes on their relatively strong Asia results. Also, let's not forget that they JUST got their right to lend in North American markets restored a year or so ago following the Mexican cartel debacle. If I were OP, I'd stay far away from HSBC until a possible suitor is named and IB growth is mentioned as a focus.
Heard the exact opposite. Looking to grow out its USIB division. As of right now, they are only scaling back their retail banking locations in the U.S. Not sure if growing will allow them to attract more deal flow or not.
bump!
If you are set on staying in the US, Nomura definitely makes sense and I agree with the other sentiment above. However, if you are interested in an international career, HSBC is the no brainer here. Outside of the US, HSBC has a great brand name that actually means something. They are dominant in Asia, have an extremely strong presence in Europe (headquartered in London), are the only international bank competing on a volume of deals alongside Citi in Canada..... They are truly great everywhere outside the US.
very uninformed comment. Nomura is a better franchise than HSBC globally in most products (and most definitely M&A) - they acquired Lehman Brothers EMEA/APAC in 2008, and although there has been a lot of turnover, they are closer to a BB than HSBC is
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