London vs NYC PE Culture
Currently at a MF fund in the US. Don’t interact much with international colleagues. Curious what the biggest differences are between PE jobs in London vs NYC? Pay, WLB, hours, culture, talent, type of people, etc. Thanks
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I found that European offices tend be much more technical
Interested to get some more colour on this
Everyone has a masters from a top school and usually it is in finance
Everything will be firm and strategy dependent. But generally, WLB better in London (more vacation days, less weekend work, etc.) and pay is better in US.
Europe is much more technical. NBOs have much more value. Deeper asset specific thinking vs the US where people will like a space and just buy an asset if it's good enough. Leads to different deal team dynamics (scatter gun at a lot and very quickly so always under tension but less under pressure vs. go very deep into stuff for months on end like it's never ending). WLB / hours will be very fund specific, I know some funds where the US teams are seen as coasters, others where they get grinded. Pay obviously better in NYC as for all finance jobs
Hours:
Most funds in the UK seem to have working hours from 9 to 7. When working on deals, worst it may get is 2 am. When an office (UK or Europe) has to work later than that before closing a deal, people question the Partner.
Culture:
Usually people are not very flashy or aggressive - they spend money on fancy experiences instead (going to opera, theatre, sports, top restaurants). It's rare to see people with expensive watches. Showing off is not very British. People are more reserved and hide their real intentions - even if someone is in the industry only for the money, they don't really say it. I haven't heard cases of Partners or Directors yelling at people to get what they want. They'd probably get fired lol
Outside of work:
Culture depends on fund as usual. Some are tight knit and they would go for drinks every week and chat about random stuff, at other funds people just do their work and leave.
…? Have you set foot in a fund in Europe?
Europe, no. UK, yes. I also have a lot of friends in the industry. I've based my comment on familiarity with >3 well-known funds.
“Worst it may get is 2am” not sure if you’re trolling
Echo the point regarding people like to spend money on experience. Most firms in London do a bit of team gathering or social, firm-wide/team ski trip every year, fancy team dinner every now and then. People like to spend on luxurious vacation etc. Most of them still buy watches but you probably see more mid-range low profile watches than APs
Wow you have shockingly disproportionate confidence in the bullshit you’re spewing
Share what's wrong then? Give us your point of view.
Don't you realise that every fund is different and maybe we just have different experiences?
Bump
Fund which has offices in NY / London / Munich. Some is hearsay so apply appropriate weightage:
1. Munich office has consistent reviews of having worst WLB
2. NY office associates seem afraid of taking 2 week PTO while London people put it on their calendar pretty confidently (this might be self inflicted since NY associates come from NY banking). Ofc you hardly get a fully work free vacation but in general, people give you space and you're expected to take PTO in London
3. Pay is better in NY than London for the same work
4. Work starts late in the London office, vs US folks seem to be online at like 8-9AM without fail (obv personal preference plays a part here)
As someone who works at GS / MS in Frankfurt, I can say that WLB in general is much worse in Germany than in London. We frequently work 10-20 hours a week more than colleagues in London at my bank and this is the case for most other banks in Frankfurt as well.
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