China MF PE → US IB/PE — How Should I Position Myself?
Throwaway for obvious reasons. Would appreciate some blunt advice from people familiar with US IB / PE recruiting.
Background:
I went to high school and college in the US (Semi-target Public Uni). I also completed two US-based internships (LMM PE and FO) during college, so I am not completely unfamiliar with the US finance / professional environment. I am fluent in English, culturally familiar with the US, and have US work authorization, so I would not need sponsorship.
After graduation, I moved back to China and spent ~3 years at an international PE fund headquartered in Europe. The fund has a meaningful China presence but the brand is probably not very well-known in the US. It does have both VC and PE teams in the US, though.
For the first ~2 years, I focused mostly on growth-stage industrials / technology investing with this European fund in China. Over the past year, I spent most of my time on a controlled aircraft leasing platform backed by the fund. The work was more hands-on and asset-heavy than traditional growth equity, including asset-level cash flow modeling, leasing economics, SPV / HoldCo structuring, LTV / debt capacity analysis, bank financing, and LP / IC materials, etc.
I recently joined / will soon join the China team of a global PE platform, think KKR / Warburg / TPG-type, in a pure buyout investment role.
Longer term, I am considering moving back to the US in the next 1–2 years for family reasons. I am not planning to do an MBA in the near term, so I am mainly thinking about lateral recruiting, internal transfer, or potentially resetting through banking / credit / real assets if that is more realistic.
On technicals, I am generally comfortable with accounting / valuation / LBO questions, modeling tests, and case studies. My bigger question is how US employers would underwrite the geography / experience fit.
Questions:
- How much credit would US PE / IB / credit employers give to China-based PE experience? Even with the MF brand name I'm about to join?
- Does the combination of growth equity, a controlled asset-heavy platform investment, and a new pure buyout seat make the story more credible, or would it still mostly be viewed as “Asia PE experience”?
- Which path is most realistic for someone with this background:
- US MM / LMM PE;
- sector-focused PE, especially industrials / aviation / transportation;
- investment banking lateral;
- private credit / special situations / asset finance;
- infrastructure / real assets / structured finance?
- If I target US IB, would I likely be viewed as an Analyst lateral, Associate lateral, or would that depend heavily on the bank / group?
- For people who have seen Asia PE / China PE candidates move to the US without an MBA, what usually works: direct PE lateral, banking reset, internal transfer, credit / real assets, or something else?
I am not optimizing purely for prestige. I am trying to find the most realistic path into the US investing / advisory market where my experience is actually relevant.
Any honest advice would be appreciated.
Curious to see how you made the move from US LMM PE to China PE. Looking to move back to Asia after a few years in LMM PE in the US (not at a known shop)
I was a intern at the US LMM PE during undergrad so no FT experience in the US at all. I went back to China as a fresh grad and luckily the fund I worked at has a tradition of hiring fresh grad so I got in.
In general I think HK and potentially Singapore are good places to bridge your US experience back to Asia. So you can probably try talking to some headhunters for HK jobs first to get a sense of how you position within the market.
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Nepotism
An1 and don’t know much about Asia market but bro, seems like u have great experience. Don’t see why it would be an issue going to any of the places you listed - easiest probably being a LMM / MM fund, either in a sector you’ve covered or somewhere with a few Asians (like in SF for example).
Another option could be internal transfer at the MF… although not sure how often that happens.
Also don’t get why you’d want to go to banking when you have direct investing experience.
Thanks, really appreciate the perspective. Very encouraging to hear.
I agree that an internal transfer at the MF would probably be the cleanest path, but not sure how common/realistic that is. My plan is to first build credibility internally, get to know the broader platform and leadership better, and potentially bring it up once there is a more natural opening.
On banking, the main reason I mentioned it is that I assumed getting into the US market might be somewhat easier through IB than directly through PE, especially given that my deal experience so far is China-based. I do prefer investing and would rather stay on the direct investing side if possible, but was trying to think through whether IB could be a more realistic “reset” path if US PE funds heavily discount Asia experience.
makes sense. hopefully someone else can opine that has a better idea on Asia dynamics.
From my perspective, don’t know why they would discount your experience especially if you are working on the same kind / structure of deals in the same / similar industry. Also think it might be weird to recruit from MF PE to IB (also you will likely get your timeline reset to An1, or maybe An2 if you are lucky), and then recruit AGAIN for PE. Maybe network with US PE professionals and see what they say.
You have great experience
Depending on job title you want , you may need to prove you can source or have the network in your geography of choice. That to me is the hurdle
Thanks for the input. I will take that into consideration. And yes I agree it is quite challenging to build network when one's on the other side of the world.
Honestly, unless you have an extremely valid family reason, I would say focus on doing great career wise and life wise in China. Feels much more exciting and potentially rewarding than being a random associate in the US and competing with everyone there. I would think after a few years at a US MF in China you would be extremely well positioned for any kind of high profile finance career in China.
DM me - might have something for you
For an experienced hire and given that you are about to start in a global platform, I think internal transfer would be your best bet. I have seen this move in non-investing roles in MF and more frequently in IB BB (an/asso from HK transfers to NY office). However, would need to caveat that this is very dependent on 1) HC in NY and 2) your relationship with the team in China and the US (would be helpful if you have a history of working with the US team in the pas, and also a good track record with the China team so they would vouch for you). Hope it goes well!
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