Culture at Japanese Banks?
Looking to get some insight into the Japanese banks / funds operating in the US. How does the culture, hours and compensation compare to US banks?
Looking to get some insight into the Japanese banks / funds operating in the US. How does the culture, hours and compensation compare to US banks?
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lmao
I know that at Sumitomo using vacation days is frowned upon. I heard stories of analysts at the NY location being talked to by their manager when they had asked to use their days.
I also heard bonuses aren't too great, yet the workload is the same as other places.
Heard pay is generally low but perks / benefits are good. At nomura, believe they have their own sushi chef flown in from Japan ha
Idk how it is now, but years back Sumitomo was a nightmare when it came to promotions. The pools were mostly made of Japanese expats, and the comp was definitely below Street average, bonuses were said to be equally as unimpressive. However, I've consistently heard nothing but good about the work environment. The general theme was that they're very "Japanese" in their work ethic - fairly friendly, insanely punctilious, and conservative
Conservative, super risk-averse, slow decision-making / decisions made purely by consensus, quasi-government levels of bureaucracy/red tape - apparently, something simple like getting your CFA dues reimbursed requires approval from three layers of management (e.g. your direct manager, his boss, his boss's boss...)
Japanese culture is one of not making mistakes and, to a certain extent, not standing out from the crowd. To the Japanese, it's better to do a ho-hum job with zero mistakes then to try and do an amazing job but with the risk of making a mistake along the way.
Source: I used to work at an American investment bank that had a strategic alliance with a Japanese bank. These opinions are from my interactions with the Japanese bankers who worked at that bank.
Been back in Asia for the last 10 years so wanted to share some thoughts about corporate culture in here. I am an Asian based in Southeast Asia and previous was in US for 10 years.
Japanese - very strict hierarchy mainly because it is still run by major trading houses that dates back to WWII. Most financial service companies are still owned by those trading houses. Although they are moving aggressively into Southeast Asia, which is controlled by Singapore office, they are still focused on risk minimization rather than profit maximization. Good long term business partners to have but need to follow their templates.
Chinese (Hong Kong) - former British colony, local Hong Konger (Honkies) are being pressured to perform by their new mainland China's bosses. In order to show that they are different from mainland Chinese, your typical Honkie banker is most likely resort to speaking English and boost his western education background. Similar to their Japanese counterpart in risk minimization, but Hongkies are most likely to resort to extreme passive-aggressive tactics as within their family units, women actually take charge of all the major decision making power.
Chinese (Mainland) - every mainland banker starts with a lot of drinking. They focus a lot of principles and personal feelings and refuse to focus on steps or processes - unlike their Japanese and Honkie counterparts. Spend a lot of time on drinking sessions to set up framework agreement rather than binding contracts. Flexible, practical and pragmatic but you never know whether you get a good deal from them. The word on the street is that you can never beat the Communists.
Thai - extremely suspicious of others. Very lazy to get things done - most of them don't want to leave Bangkok to cover other markets. Very comfortable and happy with their lives. Lies a lot in the beginning, fun crowd with endless KTV sessions, but once they trust you as a friend - they like to stick to things and very consistent. Loyalty is highly prioritized and valued like the Japanese but much easier to deal with, and flexibility is between (more than) Japanese and (less than) Chinese Mainland.
Singaporean - it is like a loud New Yorker in the US with a bunch of people from the Midwest. Claimed to be the smartest in Asia but continued to be sandwiched between either siding with their former ally - US or the new rising power - China. A bit PMS like their Hong Kong counterpart but more liberal and open - if you can get over their Singlish accent. Your Singaporean banker is more like your ABC (American Born Chinese) bros, a true banana - yellow on the outside - a bit white inside - but tell that to his face and he will never admit it.
Malaysian - if you find your Singaporean bankers to be too stuck up but you are short of budget to hire bankers, look no further than crossing the boarder for a Malaysian banker. More morally flexible in dealing with emerging markets, still more competent than the Thai but will get shit done. Less PMS than Singaporean, but you will never know what your fellow Malaysian banker is pulling up his hidden sleeves. Look no further than Jho Low who was involved in 1MDB scandal involving even Goldman Sachs.
Korean - lots of swearing. Although very similar to Japanese and can mistaken the two for most Southeast Asians, they are very different. Koreans are known to be much more blunt and less refined. Perhaps it was due to Korean wars, and due to long history of corrupted governments and big business relationship during the earlier stage of economic development, my personal feeling with Korean is their extremely workaholic and brute violent. Screaming, throwing chairs and physical abuse at the work place is considered the norms.
I think for Americans you probably need to define what exactly are you talking about - pure White American from coastal area like New York? ABC American? African American? Because Asians are still a bunch of white worshiping people so race is important. And also are you talking about educated professional repat American? Or the English teacher hipster American? Or just a bum traveling uneducated American? That is also a factor.
^^THIS^^
They are quite risk-averse.
I worked for Sumitomo Bank for a number of years, very hierarchical indeed.
They are loathe to spend money on research, NY office expenditures had to be approved by Tokyo office, don't know if that infrastructure has changed. Had to present a trend analysis for them to see the yearly increasing costs of subscriptions, conferences, etc. Got our yearly budget increased by 20% but had to prove and belabor the point that we needed to stay competitive.
Definitely was a very male-oriented set-up, even for a place within banking and finance - there were zero females above the title of VP. Very few, if any, Sr VPs, principals or directors that were non-Asian.
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