Macquarie vs. Lehman in Hong Kong
I got an offer from Macquarie's Investment Banking Group and am interviewing with Lehman's Private Equity Group. I am contemplating between these two since the deadline is approaching. Both are analyst positions in real estate group based in Hong Kong.
Can anyone share their insights about the reputation, business outlook, culture, exit opportunity and bonus comapring these two companies and groups(IB vs. PE)?
I have heard that Lehman in Asia is not as prestigious as they are in the US and Macquarie is growing fast and very active in Asia, especially in China market.
Any feeback is deeply appreciated!
Lehman, hands down. Don't know the Asian market but i'd love to hear anybody argue LEH exit opps could be beat in this case..
Even if Lehman is less prestigious in Asia than Lehmna US, it is still more prestigious than Macquarie. Also, I am sure that Lehman PE is harder to get into than Macquarie banking. But, if Macquarie is aggressively growing in the Asian banking space, and if it's a less structured office, their might be more opportunities for advancement within. But I agree with HP, exit opps will be better with Lehman.
Correcting Some Typos: *Lehman, *there
Thank you for your insights, HP and Japanalystfemale. This is really helpful for my decision making.
I assume the training and experience in investment banking group will provide me a more well-rounded skill set than private equity group, which looks at the asset level only, especially in real estate industry. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Many thanks.
In my opinion, if you can get Lehman's, GS or MS brand equity on your resume, your global exit ops opens up tremendously. Mcquarie? Most prob Australia and South Asia.
As I mentioned in my first post, I am interviewing with Lehman(2nd round), which means I don't get the offer yet. I asked for advice at this moment since I realized there is no much time left if I wait until I get the response from Lehman.
I do some research and ask as many people as I can. I realize Lehman and Macquarie are definitely in different league but my concern is how big the gap is. One alumnus, who works in the same group in Lehman but in other country in Asia, told me she would rather hire an analyst coming from Macquarie than Deutsche Bank since Macquarie is really active in Asia, especially Chinese market. For example, they just did the first China CMBS deal with Citi this year. Based on our conversation, I would assume the prestige gap between Macquarie and Lehman is not as large as I originally thought (no more than 1.5 tier to 3 tier).
In addition, there are other factors besides prestige that I would consider in my employment decision. I am an Asian and study in the States now. I will probably work in Asian for the rest of my life if I decide to go back. So, the regional prestige matters more to me. Also, Macquarie is really good at infrastructure and I happen to be interested in that sector in addition to real estate. The Australian culture makes the life there more laid back and the working hour is more reasonable compared to other bulge bracket banks. Lastly, I assume the investment banking position will give me more exposure to the corporate finance than private equity does. These are the reasons why a simple choice for other people becomes a headache for me.
I understand there is always a trade-off. I just want to gather as much information as possible before I make my decision that suits my interests and career goal best.
Again, any feedback is deeply appreciated.
Aaah... you may be surprised there... esp in HK
Amen to that....
Jobhunter99 dats a very naive assumption. In HK...they work you hard...or they work you harder. LOL...there is no laid back.
MonkyBusiness and Ermen, thanks for your warnings. I spent this summer as an intern in Hong Kong and I understand what kind of life an IB analyst in HK will end up.
The MD in Macquarie told me they have reasonable working hours compared to other bb banks during the interview and I got the same feedback from other people working in Macquarie although not in HK. That's why I have the assumption like that. If anyone working in Macquarie HK can correct me about this, it will be a good thing to know before I make my decision.
Has any of you guys heard of LEH PE at all recently? I recently heard they came up with a $200m fund w/ IBM to take minority stakes in China. At the same time, MAC just bidded A$10bn for Qantas... Not really the same game. In Asia they've been involved in huge deals - they bought some communication towers in Ta
Macquarie actually isn't that bad. i interviewed with lehman HK and thought that their asia outpost was a joke. very unorganized with people on a highhorse on an analyst level. who knows where lehman will be in the future in asia, but it doesn't seem they are that focused as this moment (they do have a rather large japan presence though). Macquarie on the otherhand, is involved in quite alot of infrastructure PE deals - which Asia is undergoing at the moment (just look at china). take my advice with a grain of salt b/c i'm biased against leh hk.
hi! I just randomly saw your posting and learned that you had an interview with Lehman HK. I am having a final round interview with them in 2 weeks and I'm just wondering if you could give me some insights on the type of interview questions i may expect from them.
Thanks man I'd really appreciate this!
I am an Analyst in Mac Beijing Office. The hours is indeed better than other major banks, at least in the BJ office. Analysts usually head home before 11-12 pm. We seldom stay beyond 2 am. But it's said hours are worse in the HK office.
Mac bank is a big player in infra. and is buying many property assets in China. But on the corporate finance side, it's not prestigous enough to get big deals.
For Lehman, it's true that its name is not heard a lot in China and it lags far behind its US BB peers.
NPV1984, cosmokramer, and Morespring, Thank you all for your insights. These info are really helpful for my decision making.
for US-based exit ops, I'd still argue Lehman in this case.
I've heard Mac in HK is very low-tier, even though they are doing some reasonable deals in Asia.
A Big problem with Mac is that they are have a massive IB head count, so although the hours are less, your competing to get on the good deals.
Macquarie... definitely
LOL dude didn't you bump that other Lehman thread yesterday haha
Enim est totam voluptatibus est. Laborum officia sint atque cumque. Eum vero ad deserunt sed quibusdam. In impedit et ipsa commodi corrupti dignissimos.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...