What are the biggest financial hubs after NYC? And which offers the best living situation?
After NYC, what are the biggest finance hubs? And, of these cities, which one(s) is/are the best to live in?
In the US, I would say: Chicago, San Fran, LA, Boston, Philly, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas, Austin
Fair enough. I don't know much of what goes on in Texas, so I was just guessing there.
London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Paris, Amsterdam, Geneva, Sydney, Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco.
I don't feel like I hear about San Fran that much in relation to finance. It definitely is major city for finance. But, just out of interest, can someone give the names of companies and/or some news stories that reference San Fran in relation to finance? I want to realize what I am overlooking here.
Also, is there some specific area within finance, like Venture Capital, which is especially prominent as part of finance in San Francisco?
This is a really broad question....anything and everything tech, and to a large extent, healthcare related is run out of San Franisco/Menlo Park. The major VC funds (Kleiner Perkins, Andreesen Horowitz, Khosla, Sequoia, most notably) are located on Sand Hill Road (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Hill_Road), along with Morgan Stanley's Tech and Tech M&A team. Menlo Park is to venture capital what Greenwich is to hedge funds. Think Barclays might be out there as well. The rest of the IB teams are in SF.
In terms of new stories? Uh, the Dell take-private?
enormous number of PE firms in San Fran (for some indiscernible reason).
VC & PE are big in SF, chicago has pretty much everything (still not sure why there is so much ER here?) , Boston is PE/HF, Dallas I have no idea, and Austin I would think to be VC as well since it's a major tech city.
Yeah, SF is a pretty big hub for TMT groups because of its proximity to Silicon Valley. Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have pretty legit tech groups out there. Blackstone has a tech M&A group in SF that's very good, as well.
Well, technically the offices are in Menlo Park, but close enough...
What about St. Louis? It seems there is more financial things going on there than I would have guessed originally.
Houston is obviously the hub for anything energy related, Dallas plays off of this and has a decent amount of energy-related finance as well. Dallas also has a good number of quality hedge funds. That's Texas.
I would not call Austin a financial hub. Not at all. Yeah, there's some cool start-ups and a few boutique VCs down there. Not a "hub" at all, though. Even Dallas is pushing it.
Mexico City
Bombay!
Boston, San Fran, Chicago, Houston, LA, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas
in that order
Dallas ATL and Charlotte for living situation (I'm assuming you mean cost of living?)
Yes, cost of living was definitely a major part of it. But I was also hoping for an overall picture too. So considering cost of living, but not just that.
I'll call Houston tied for 2nd with SF and Chicago. What other cities outside of new york and the aforementioned have IB operations of every bank and major boutique? And I might bump Chicago back a notch as those offices never strike me as very active (i.e. usually industrials focused which most groups do out of new york, whereas most energy execution comes out of H-Town, tmt out of bay area, etc). If we want to broaden our qualifications I'd also throw in that Houston is 3rd in Fortune 500 HQ's with 23. end plug.
lifestyle. SF is the best city in America
plus some of the hottest women (same for LA, but there's a plastic factor there)
How is Dallas in terms of finance what firms are out there? Also how is it living in Dallas and being a URM? An opportunity is out there but not sure if I would ever move to Dallas maybe Houston.
To me Dallas seems very conservative given its the south (no data to back this up) and not as lively as Houston.
Also do white chicks dig Asians down there?
Dallas is every bit as "lively" as Houston - if not more so. Much more condensed nightlife scene, geographically, makes for ease of bar hopping whereas, with some exceptions, in Houston you're normally limited to the three- four bars proximate to where you start your evening. Dallas not as ethnically diverse as Houston by any stretch - so might be a negative for you.
Finance scene in Dallas is much more AM/HF centric versus Houston (which has a much more significant IB backbone v. Dallas). Dallas more industry diverse - some energy but also airlines, consumers, tech.
Some pretty solid AM firms in Philly, and super low cost of living compared to every city listed above.
Well said !
The most important financial hub worldwide, on par with NYC is London, specifically the City of London district. Canary Wharf (in East London) also houses many financial firms (example: JPM, BofA, MS).
HK is decent...
London is many times worse than NY in terms of cost of living.
^Probably never even been there or at least not for very long.
In terms of quality of life, Boston and Chicago are probably the best for most people. However, the two down sides of Boston are the cost of parking for people who live in the city, and the speed limits, last time I was there it was 55 mph compared to 85 mph for TX, for people who take the interstate to work.
Boston is probably the best place on the east coast for Consulting and VC; whilst Chicago is one of the best places in the world for HFT.
Also the people in Boston and Chicago are much friendlier than the people in NY (City) or South FL.
The speed limit in Boston is 65 mph on most major highways. 85 mph is pretty absurd. Awesome, but absurd.
I was commenting on the last time I was in Boston, which was about 6 years ago. I'm sure it has changed since then.
Also I agree with the absurdity of 85 mph speed limit in so far as it is not observed even by the police, who can be seen cruising by at speeds of over 100 mph. Just don't expect to go than fast in Austin.
The speed limit in Noo Yawk is infinity miles per hour. It's every man, woman, and veehickle for themselves here, since there are no rules.
too many pidgey's too sucks when they migr8tin n theres pidgey droppings everyware
I fucking hate those birds. Often they're flying right towards my head and I have to duck.
lived there for 6 years. Loved every minute. I had a book which also recommended day trips in SF vicinity. Just such a great place. If it wasn't for dot-com-crash I'd prob. still be there. Miss it, and now trying to get back. Interviewing now.
Currently I'm living in HK. It's a fantastic city too, but with China slowdown and a lot of localization (Mainland Chinese vastly preferred) I'm having problems getting a new job post layoffs. I'd stay here too if I could.
Lived in London. It was super expensive, weather sucked, it was spread out, and with the exception of a few pockets, not particularly exciting / stimulating. I lived in Angel / Islington though, so I guess I was in one of those pockets where interesting stuff was going down.
SF, NYC and HK are all great. London I can do without.
How is starting out in SF vs. NYC?
I love to see how things are changed in this years. Guys on the Eu side now we have Frankfurt, such a beautiful place for doing business! London is partially over due to Brexit, Paris=taxes, Milan=not bad at all but taxes+corruption, Madrid=not bad.. etc
Income tax in Italy is lower or on par with UK, France, Greece, Spain so I'm not sure why you flag Milan for taxes. Also I really would not say London is over. There is a really good chance the BBs stay put and the HFs are not leaving. We won't see for another year or two but looks fine for London.
No man trust me italian financial system is a nightmare, my relatives are and live in there. For London I'm joking, and I think now they have a great opportunity. Absolutely front office will not move, not the same for the back. But Frankfurt is a launched train!
I was born and raised in the US. Spent my entire adult life in New York, Hong Kong, London and Tokyo.
London is by far my favorite city. It's easily the nicest and cleanest 'big' city I've lived in. It's also the 'smallest' big city I've lived in, if that makes sense. The weather is amazing. Yes, it gets a bad rap for long winters...but it almost never snows, rarely goes below freezing. In the summer it gets hot but rarely above 100 degrees F. The springs, early summer and fall are glorious. No earthquakes, no tornados, no snowstorms, no volcanos, no natural disasters to worry about except for the very occasional flooding down south.
Unfortunately, London is also back-breakingly expensive, and it's not even remotely close. My place on the Upper West Side now feels like a bargain rental.
Tokyo has amazing food, the....eeerrrrr, scenery is amazing if you're a single (or maybe not single) guy, rents are actually reasonable, and Roppongi is apparently fun (if you're a young single guy not teaching English for a living).
But everything else sucks monkey balls. Commuting is communal torture, Tokyo is a desolate, depressing concrete urban wasteland, the summers are about as pleasant as living inside a rat's intestine due to the heat and 'cool biz' policy of Japanese companies that won't turn the AC unless it's 85 degrees F inside, and winters are freezing because Japan has yet to learn about the miracle invention of insulation.
Hong Kong was fun initially but it's hard to live in country where people haven't figured out how to queue and throwing rotten food and other waste out your 34th story window is considered 'normal' behavior.
If I was young and single, I'd want to live in New York or Tokyo. If I had a young family? I'd want to live in London, and there's not a remotely close second. If I wanted to save on income tax, I'd move to Hong Kong and hate every minute of it.
I've had to spend time in Houston and Dallas. Uummmmmm. No thank you.
"If you are tired of London, you are tired of life"
no love for Detroit or Cleveland on this forum?
I heard they are the RX and distressed capital of the US!
If you're looking for a good cost of living and bang for your buck, you can't go wrong with Texas. Of the cities in Texas, Houston has the most to offer, Dallas/Austin second. No state tax, homes for under $100/sqft, amazing food (Tex Mex, BBQ, international cuisines - some really top international restaurants are located in Houston). It could be tough to get a non-energy gig in Houston, but not impossible.
The downside to living in Houston, of course, is that you have to live in Houston.
:-)
haha fair, but I actually love Houston so I'm really biased. If not for personal connections and obligations, I'd stay in NY, so Houston's a fair compromise in terms of city size and cost of living.
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