Breaking into Sales & Trading in Hong Kong - help
I’m currently heading into my final year at a good semi target in the UK (Warwick/Durham/KCL) studying a strong non-STEM/non-finance related degree (think PPE, Law etc). Experience wise, i’m at a very small L/S HF this summer in my home country (Canada/US) and have multiple no name boutique IB and PE internships prior alongside some experience at a SWF. Will likely undertake a Master of Finance at one of Imperial/LSE/LBS (whatever one I get into) graduating 2026.
My time spent in M&A/IB/PE has shown me that i’m much more interested in markets and so far this summer at my HF has confirmed that (unfortunately no path to a return offer). I want to break into S&T and have some very very strong personal/family reasons to want to do so in HK.
An issue is that I don’t speak Mandarin/Cantonese. I’ve heard that this shouldn’t be much of a problem in S&T, but would love to hear if that info is still current? Also is there more of a barrier (if at all) for sales vs. trading in HK for languages? Also visa for me is not a concern
I’m also curious if my UG degree being a non-Finance/non-STEM degree is a barrier at all when considering the nature of S&T work? Obviously i’m not trying to break into quant desk but by the time I apply for 2025 SA positions I will have basically not started my Msf degree yet. I have a pretty strong grasp of VBA and am considering learning python but am curious if not having super strong coding skills/educational math background will hinder me (am equally open to sales)
Also i’m curious to hear how the UG schools I mentioned above are perceived by banks/HR departments in HK
TLDR; i’m at a UK semi target studying a non-quant degree with HF/IB/PE exp., don’t speak chinese and looking to land a 2025 SA S&T position in HK. Would love advice
Thanks!
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Went to school there, and feel like s&t is more popular than Ib because the private market isn't a big deal in Asia, whereas the public market is where the money's at. Having said that, most trading guys are from STEM backgrounds, so you might be limited to sales positions, where is definitely doable.
If I wanted to move to Asia, sales would be a higher potential career vs ib?
thanks for the insight, any colour on language requirements for sales vs trading in HK? honestly sales interests me quite a bit but concerned my lack of chinese speaking ability is a hinderance
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Why do you want to work in sales and not work on the betting side? People from quant backgrounds typically seek working on the buy side and not the sell side which is geared more toward those with softer skills.
i’m not opposed to working on the trading side vs sales, but more so am curious if my technical skills are too light for non super quant desks (at this point VBA is my only language, plan to learn python etc)
figured that if i’m unable to be competitive for a majority of trading desks because of my non technical background that i should target sales?
any colour as to some desks I could target would be helpful based on most technical to least
following
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You don't have much of a chance landing a role in S&T coming from a UK non-target. Even if you are at a target school it is still going to be very tough. You will have better luck working in UK first and then transferring internally.
Would have thought Warwick/Durham/KCL (I guess maybe less so KCL) at the undergrad level would be considered semi-target at least, but if not that’s interesting
They are semi-targets or even targets (Warwick) in UK. In HK It is a different story. There is a ton of competition and very few seats. Your competition is from top targets in China/HK/US/Canada.
How quantitative does your degree have to be? Coming from a Canadian reputatable school (Rotman) BCom
Doesn't really have to be quantitative. You will have a decent shot coming from Rotman.
To be completely real the intern classes usually consist only of Oxbridge + Top US Ivies from internationals
I don't really pay attention to the intern class. But I can tell you that this isn't true for analysts (in the banks that I am familiar with at least).
Btw just saw the S&T SA list from a HK BB. 14 seats, 2 from UofT (1 Rotman), 6 from local HK schools, 1 from Oxford, 1 from NUS, rest from American schools (only 1 ivy).
How were the interns? Heard talent pool across BB was somewhat lackluster, MS had awful return rates & rest of street was circa 50%
50% seems about right maybe a bit higher, I didn't keep track of the SA vs new analyst class, but the new analyst class size is smaller, and I'd assume that not all are return offers.
Btw it's funny i got monkey shit for giving an actual datapoint with the recent class lol, some people are a bit delusional about the market.
Lol that’s wild
Damn, reason I even asked is because I had a friend at a bb who told me about their own buddies experience (hence, I am aware of which 14 list class this is) and from what was floated around -> some got passed up even with desk headcount (tried to recruit other offices interns), and others only got picked up last min cuz of analysts quitting.
Market is not great atm but idk if it’s also a quality issue? I also heard about an intern that made some bizarre remarks about their extracurriculars too but can’t tell you if this phenomenon is across street or just this specific case.
No mandarin = ding
Non target = ding as well given the competition, even in London where places are more abundant
I've lived in the APAC region for my entire life and moving to SG very soon. Firstly, in terms of language, not speaking Mandarin/Cantonese is absolutely fine - HK is one of the main financial hubs on this side of the world and it's very international. I would say the vast majority of business is conducted in English due to the many major international companies that have branches there. Secondly, coming from a UK semi-target would be viewed favourably due to it's international leaning - they take people from all types of universities and countries. Finally, I have a relative who graduated from an NZ university with a STEM degree and comfortably secured an S&T internship then a FT offer for a BB in HK, several years back..
Interesting, i'm applying now to HK S&T SA positions so curious how that'll pan out
Good luck mate!
mind if i message you?
Updates?
Mind if I PM?
.
dude ur cooked if you cant speak the lang for sales
Based on HK real estate mkt, it seems like a good time to get in
explain?
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