Top Names in Hong Kong and Singapore

Nomura

Rothschild- saw them at #10 on the Asia M&A table a while back. CICC does well there too from what I understand. Standard Chartered has a big tall tower in HK, if that's any indication of quality.

Keep in mind, if you're looking for internships, you should probably stay away from CICC (or CITIC for that matter). The Chinese banks have poor training programs in general and don't treat interns too well.

Mitsubishi Trust Commonwealth Bank of Australia Australia and New Zealand Banking Group BOC International

Pretty sure Canadian Big 5 have a strong Asian presence too (RBC, TD, CIBC, Scotia, BMO)

As far as I've heard, the Canadian banks don't have much presence in HK, although to be fair I haven't looked into them myself. I know RBC is in the Cheung Kong Center along with GS and BarCap though.

Scotia is decent in Asia - IIRC they did a couple of deals with Sinopec last year.

bb

wow what. wait for someone with a star to come on here and tell you. no offence but some of the above posts might not be true at all

This is very helpful. Thanks for the insights everyone.

I noticed though, that most analysts become direct promotes to associates, as opposed to leaving for the buyside. Is this because private equity shops aren't that established in the region (compared to the US), and hence not that highly sought after?

Also, do you think US business schools would look favorably upon such overseas experience, even if you just become a direct promote to associate?

bump.

There's just in general less emphasis on buyside in HK because as you said the industry isn't as prevalent. The issue is that in the US, you have a handful of MEGAFUND (which also exist in HK/Singapore/China) BUT the vast majority of PE exits for IBD analysts in the US are Middle Market PE firms (and also mom and pop shops).

Therefore, in Hong Kong, analysts either go into well-established megafunds or stay in banking. However, the caveat is there is increasingly middle-market domestic players in CHina (that are doing well), so expect the industry to grow substantially over the next couple of years.

The other issue is compensation. HK banking compensation is higher than counterparts in NY, add in the housing stipend and the lower taxes and it can be materially higher. Therefore, its harder for PE firms to match that comp to the degree where its attractive for the candidate to leave IBD. Most middle-market PE firms in the US pay cash compensation that is actually equal to or lower than BB-associate compensation.

As for whether international experience will help for B-school admissions. There's no clear cut answer for that. It's on a case by case basis, and most importantly, how you incorporate the experience into your overall application. If you can't create a consistent and convincing narrative, if doesn't matter if you worked on Mars. With that said however, there is no denying that top US MBA programs are increasingly looking to "diversify" - including increasing emphasis on international experience (so yes, in general, international experience is a +)

1. HK pidgeonholes
2. HK is only IPOs, modeling outsourced to us in NYC
3. HK has no buyside opps
4. HK has high costs and you will make more post tax but save less
5. HK hours are ALWAYS longer and are huge sweatshops as compared to NYC offices.

Lee Ho Chao Zhang