Hi,
I live in Russia and I want to get out of here. I have just completed my bachelor's degree at the most prestigious Russian university and have an extremely strong CV for the Russian market. I will briefly describe it so that you understand: in my first year I got a job at BCG and worked there as a part-time intern for a year, after the start of the war all major firms left the market and I went to work at the mm pe fund where I worked for two years and reached the position of associate, after which I moved to merchant banking of our largest local investment bank bank (ge, pik, ibd).
To be honest, I'm pretty sick of what's going on here in terms of geopolitics and work, so I want to move to the United States. I did a research by interviewing people who were able to move from Russia to the United States and build a career in finance and got completely different opinions. Therefore, I will describe what I want in terms of a career, and then I will highlight the options that I have at the moment and I want to get an answer to how feasible my goals are in your opinion.
Career: I want to develop a long-term career only in PE and preferably mf.
Opportunities:
- Moving to Cyprus/UAE with subsequent admission to the MBA in Ivy League. I have a number of contacts in these countries, which makes it quite easy for me to find a job there, but the problem is that these are not bb, but Russian fo, pe, vc and cd.
- Stay in Russia and continue working at a large investment bank with subsequent admission to an MBA in Ivy League.
I will be glad to hear your opinions and advice!
"I went to work at the mm pe fund where I worked for two years and reached the position of associate"
How do deals work in Russia? My thought is maybe recruiting in US for PE may be difficult as the structure/flow of deals is different.
I'll answer about recruiting first, then about deals:
I can't answer for sure, because I'm not familiar with all aspects of recruiting in the United States, so I'll describe the recruiting process in Russia and you can draw your own conclusions. Below I will describe my experience of applying for different positions in different private equity funds, in general, it is about the same everywhere.
The first stage is cv screening -> interview with an HR manager, they usually ask how much money you want and can ask a couple of simple questions like the longest ev to equity value that you know. -> interview with an analyst / associate (not everywhere, but present). Usually they don't ask you specifically about pe, they can ask simple questions, and then go deeper. -> interview with the manager/vp, here they already ask quite difficult questions about finance, structuring transactions, etc. and usually give one/two cases (the company's pitchbooks) and ask if I invest or not and why -> the case like homework, usually it's a task for a week/two where you need to make a memo, a model, the structure of the transaction and the presentation of the potential transaction. -> if everything is good, you go to an interview with the head of the foundation where you are already discussing your contribution to the team and similar questions, they may ask which of the heads of other firms you know and can introduce.
Speaking of deals, I was lucky because the beginning of my work fell at the beginning of the war, and many companies were leaving the market, which is why we had a lot of deals and a lot of work. This allowed me to get promoted quickly. If you have any questions about how transactions are structured, I can gladly answer, but ask more specific questions, because I don't always know if this is different from how you do it in the United States or not.
If you are willing to go through enhanced security checks, try obtaining a student visa to enter a new country. It's a different environment right now, as you can imagine, but I don't think anyone would not like you on a personal level.
I know of at least one Russian contact who got a student visa in the UK this way.
Thanks a lot for the advice!
This question bothers me a lot, partly because of this, I am more inclined to go to Cyprus. Within 3 years, I will be able to obtain citizenship, which will greatly facilitate my life in such matters.
you should also look into acquiring citizenship through investments in real estate or business. Grenada, Malta, and more.
Also, there are a few countries that are faster in establishing residency and ultimately citizenship. Canada comes to mind. There is a sizeable Eastern European community in Canada.
after you get Canadian citizenship you can transition to a life in the US.
all of this is with no guarantee, of course, and your career might suffer through all the moves, learning the language, paperwork, and other reasons.
but you'd have to invest in your life as long as you are young.
Пересекай границу с Мексикой друг мой. Подавай на беженца, получай разрешение на работу и жди суда спокойно пока ты работаешь/ ищешь работу. Иначе никак
This is more than a working option, but the problem is that I will be safe, but not my relatives. I discussed the possibility of such an act with them, and they asked me not to do it, because their lives would be in danger. My uncle is an arbitration judge in a small town in Russia, if I do something like this, then his life will come to an end.
Ugh... i see. I am so sorry you are in this position. I guess best bet would be Dubai without any repercussions to your family. Plenty well paying IB jobs there. Good luck my friend!
Tf you guys are downvoting my comment for?. I’m from Ukraine and I speak Russian, freaking chill
join the Russian army. I hear they're giving some big bonuses right now.
I gave them my bonus so they wouldn't bother me.
Didn't read but there are a lot of Russians in London hope this helps
Tonnes of Russians in London. Have you considered there?
Yes, Russians love London very much, it seems to me because it is very similar to Moscow.
At some point of time, it was super prestigious in Russia to send their children to study in England and a lot of people did so.
Also, many Russian businessmen who came into conflict with the government went there. In Russia, until 2022, there was even a "London List" - a list of businessmen who left for London for political reasons and want to return, but afraid of persecution.
As for me, I was thinking about London, but I came across mixed opinions. The principal in my foundation worked for about 10 years in London. He said that the salaries of investment bankers in London are on average 20% lower than in NYC, HK, Frankfurt and other financial capitals, despite the fact that the cost of living is the same or higher.
Hey
I study in moscow and it's my senior year. My major is international economic relations in rfta, but I find out I want to land a job in finance. I applied to aton for ib and pe, but I had no relevant knowledge to get the position.
Would you kindly recommend some materials or just a list of themes that I should examine before applying. I'd be really grateful.
Good luck with your career.
Привет,
Советую прямо сейчас зарегистрироваться на отбор в школу финансов и ib club. В ib club попасть легче, но советую сразу пробавать в оба. В шф достаточно неприятный отбор, тест + два инветрвью. На интервью попадаются персонажи, которые могут задать тебе самый сложный вопрос, ответ на который они сами узнали вчера.
В целом, нетвок как и на западе решает почти все. В этих школах ты познакомишься с многими ребятами, которые смогут тебя реферить.
Насчет первой работы наверно, мой опыт не будет супер релевантным, потому что я начинал когда войны не было, но знаю что многие идут в оценку бизнеса big4, а после идут в ib/pe. Если перспектива рыботы в big4 тебя не устраивает, пробуй подаваться на рост в ВТБ (лучшие компанды это ib, clfi (уж не знаю, есть ли у них проекты с кс 18%) и PESS) ну и на другие стажировки. На вакансии аналитиков без опыта попать будет сложно. Подпишись на всякие тг каналы, которые постят вакансии в финансах, я сейчас уже не в курсе какие актуальные, но думаю ты спокойно сможешь найти что-то, как минимум у ib club и шф они есть.
Насчет лучших мест для работы:
Top ib: сбер, втб, реник
Бутики: advance capital, aspring capital
PE/VC: Baring Vostok (восток инветстиции, до 24 февраля опыт там был даже круче bb, что сейчас с ними без понятия), Kismet, сбер merchant banking (по рассказам тех кто там работал платят хорошо, но очень много дурацкой работы), втб PESS.
Где лучше не работать: Ростех, РФПИ, Роснано, в целом, если начинается с Рос - лучше задуматься... Атон тоже по рассказам не супер, но ничего не утверждаю.
Если хочешь уехать на запад, то просто иди сдавай IELS и GMAT, для поступления в магу, твой опыт в рф будет не релевантен в любом случае. Как сдашь их на норм значения можешь пойти на стажировку в big4, это наверно будет лучшим вариантом.
Do you mind sharing what your total comp is?
I suppose you make more in banking than in MM PE?
Ea veritatis modi ratione qui assumenda. Vel sit deleniti molestiae eum dolor. In accusantium et ratione ea id. In enim veritatis fugiat autem consequatur rem tenetur dolores.
Qui vitae culpa nemo adipisci aut consectetur. Maxime et cupiditate consequatur nemo deserunt. Laborum et animi rerum. Odio non et delectus nihil et. Amet dolor rem quisquam.
Exercitationem et delectus possimus ea eos aut. Eum et libero voluptas non corrupti. Rerum quo est tempora magni officiis rem consequatur.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...