Sovereign Advisory Groups

Anyone care to share insights into working at/breaking into Sovereign Advisory groups? It seems that Lazard and Rothschild's Paris-based teams are the two dominant groups, but are there no American (NY/DC based) teams? Considering geographic proximity, I'd be surprised if no American firms are servicing the Latin America market, as this region is notorious for debt defaults/restructurings, essentially the core work of Sovereign Advisory groups.

I've also heard that some London boutiques also see some deal flow, anyone know the names of a few of these firms? Any info is appreciated, as very scant information is available online on sovereign advisory.

In case anyone is interested, my background: Finished undergrad in 2019, and now am an Economic Analyst at a US Government institution (think Federal Reserve, US Treasury, White House Council of Economic Advisers).

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As far as I know, there are some boutiques in London but the three biggest firms are all Paris-based and work on deals globally (Lazard, Rothschild, and a new independent firm GSA launched by the ex-head of sovereign advisory at Rothschild). Speaking fluent French (and if possible Spanish) is a necessity. I've just been through the interview process for internships at the three firms above, it truly is a niche sector and if you are looking for US-based opportunities then I think your best option is to work for the IMF.

 

There are teams at US bulge brackets in this space for example under a public sector coverage group or sometimes embedded in DCM or markets. Goldman, JP, Citi have hybrids of these groups and advise governments.

To break in you should have an economics or finance background, top school degree (I.e. Harvard Kennedy, Columbia SIPA, LSS, Science Po etc.), fluent in French, Spanish and others. Strong knowledge of applied economics, debt sustainability, data, etc. A lot of networking.

Indeed others include Blackrock’s Financial advisory, Lazard and some small shops that help sovereigns but they are not banks so the pay may be “ok”

 

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