Lets talk LONDON!

As a guy who grew up watching Bond, reading history, and watching more James Bond and reading history- well I’ve always been fascinated by London Town.


There are/were two international hubs of finance, New York City & London.
 

How do NYC and London differ in

-Groups

-Culture

-Exit ops

 

Yeah you’re right, NYC is the best in every category.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Absolutely false. Most IB seats are usually taken by UG target kids. If what you were saying were true, the term target wouldn't even exist at the UG level. The rare few that make it from LSE, HEC, Bocconi, etc usually have stellar academic performances at their respective UG (hence why they were even able to get into those universities to study finance for PG) and I have yet to see people from UG universities like Westminster, London Met, etc at top banks, LSE masters or not.

 

Well I wouldn't exactly call a 40k tuition fee something that "doesn't matter".

Not to mention, people from truly "no-name" schools do not even make it onto the masters programs you are talking about. In addition, high school grades are still used as a filter at many shops with often the min requirements set at ~ABB A-Levels or equivalent. Those grades would be enough to get into the worse courses at most semi targets. So your undergrad does matter, directly and indirectly.

 

Might be highly group/firm dependent, but speaking to US folks in my team that relocated across the pond, culture seems to be more laid back here in the UK (no need for analysts to be in at 8am before associates/VPs get in; pints at the pub on Fridays etc.).

On exit ops, the move to PE is not as straightforward as in the US (on-cycle is not really a thing) and it's common to see people make the jump even as AS2 or 3. Also MBAs are not really as relevant as in the US

 
Most Helpful

Speaking as an American analyst in London IBD, some unique things are:

  • 60%+ of the analysts are coming from European masters and are 25+. The amount of analysts coming straight from British UG is quite small (regardless of nationality).
  • As a result, British grads often do worse in the beginning of their IB stint compared to Europeans with 3+ offcycle internships but have a lot more time to catch-up. And since there is no need to get an MBA in PE/elsewhere, those Brits who get in from a 3yr UG, once ramped up can get senior at a relatively young age.
  • People get significant vacation time (~25-30 days) and even junior analysts will take all their days off and ignore work requests if not urgent.
  • While vacation time is strong, I do not know where this idea came from that LDN/Paris/Frankfurt IBD has less hours. My peers and I are consistently working 9-2am with weekend work, 50% of my analyst class is gone halfway through the 2yr stint. Many of them so burnt out, they left to just travel -> go to a startup (swore off high finance entirely)
  • No surprise pay is less but compared to other industries, but it is at least semi-comparable to the US. Outside IB/PE/Corp law, many other industries like Consulting/VC/Software Engineering/Corp Dev/Corp strategy pay insulting amounts compared to US counterparts. However, If you get a MF/UMM PE fund, you are living large as you get paid NYC levels in GBP and London is suprisingly cheaper than NYC.
  • For some reason, there are almost no white British women in LDN IBD. They tend to be French/German/Italian women or South/East Asian British women. Still can't figure this one out tbh.
  • There is no set PE recruiting timeline, from my BB I have seen a senior analyst and senior Associate head to the same UMM PE at the time at the same level.
  • I have seen a lot of people on WSO state that visa sponsorship and languages matter a great deal in PE recruiting. But after a year of seeing people exit. I can say with certainty that while some opportunities will certainly be shut if you are a international / speak no other European languages, even people from "low" BBs will have plenty of opportunities -> secure solid PE offers. Hell, one European PE loved my English buddy and is paying for his French lessons so he can cover France more effectively.
  • Would disagree on conservative fashion, I have strolled in with three day scruffy beards all the time and occassionally hoodie/jeans on a Fri, have not been ranked lesser for it / never been told to stop. This may be a COVID impact item however, if you are one of the 3/10 juniors who decided to even come to the office, you get a bit more leeway on what you wear...
  • WSO rankings tend to be less relevant to European IB. its now fairly common knowledge that Rothschild is extremely strong in London compared to New York (they absolutely dominate deals coming out France). But moreover, many US EBs are significantly weaker (Evercore/Moelis/Qatalyst/etc) and European franchises obviously take up a much larger piece of the pie than they do in the US. 
  • Big 4 accountants are respected far more in Europe, by that I mean many lateral to IB or LMM PE after they complete their stint.
  • Private health care is ridiculously good here, the annual deductible is £100-£200. Since so few people utilize private medicinal services, you can get appointments with highly-skilled specialists the same day -> further scans in the next hour with very little hassle and no paperwork. Private care is a luxury but as a consequence, patients are treated as VIPs.
 

Would really emphasise that point on there being no set timeline for PE recruiting. Have seen people all the way up to VP level make the jump to buyside. Bottom line is that there is no rush to take the first offer that comes - people can afford to hold out for something that they really want (assuming WLB / burnout isn't an issue...)

 

I often see people asking on here about good places to live in London relative to their office, and I think it's important to stress that in terms of standard of housing/safety etc there's significant variation not just between areas but literally from street to street - you often see a row of super nice townhouses right next to a rough council estate (social housing). Just because you see a property listed in Chelsea/Kensington/Hampstead etc doesn't mean it'll be in a nice or safe area irl. Just something to keep in mind for anyone moving over who may not have much familiarity yet.

 

Some stuff based on personal experience:

- salaries are significantly lower in Europe, even after the exchange rate is accounted for; worse for the rest of the continent but even London in the early years is nowhere near the numbers you'll see on WSO for the US;

- cost of living is more standardized; less extremes compared to the US, which makes personal finance skills far more necessary in NYC than anywhere in Europe; from taxes to groceries, gym, clothes and everything else, in America you need to know when to buy;

- overwhelmingly safer; London is actually one of the least safe cities in Europe and it's still nowhere near as bad as big American cities; this is entirely due to bad policies; 

- comfier street culture for outgoing people; better amenities overall; 

- London specifically has awful weather, 10 months a year; most of European/American cities are better under that aspect; it's really noticeable;

- Brit fashion is bad, worst girls in Europe, but tbh American girls are getting worse and worse. 

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

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