Transferring from NY to Asia (Advice wanted)
Guys,
Thanks for taking time to read this. I'm a senior in college and about to graduate. Fortunately have an IBD analyst job offer at a BB. Will start at their NY office this summer. However, due to family reason, I'm thinking about internally moving to my bank's Asian office after 6 mos or 1 yr. The following is something about myself.
- Born in US but fluent in Mandarin, Canto, and Vietnamese (both written and spoken)
- Target office is Hong Kong, but is open to Shanghai, Singapore or Beijing
- Not selective at all in terms of groups so I'm open to anything as long as it's within IBD.
- Plan to stay in banking for 3rd year and associate
- My bank has significant presence in Asia and especially HK (Citi/DB/UBS/CS)
I know banks are okay with 3rd year transfer, but what about 6 mos or 1 yr transfer? What should I do now and in the future? Read a few posts but there aren't much clear guidelines. I'm reluctant to ask the contacts or HR right now so hopefully you guys can shed some light.
Thanks a bunch!! Much appreciated. Please send me a PM if you want.
Nokia
Interested in this topic as well
I posed this question (i.e. transferring to HK) to an HR contact while I was doing my BB SA stint in New York. The process is that you must contact your lateral recruiter at your BB (presuming you want to stay at the same firm). However, ideally, I was told that it is strongly preferred that an analyst stays 2 years which the group/office that hired them before transferring.
6 months is definitely not an option. Ultimately, it also depends on how much pull your group has in Asia (for example, if you're on industrials, and your group constantly works with the HK team to do cross-border transactions, it'll be easier since you will have contacts on the other side of the pond).
If your goal is to stay in banking, moving to HK is a good choice. 3rd year promotes are very common throughout, and the expat package generally makes for a non-trivial higher standard of living in Asia. Not to mention a lot of opportunities popping up
Thanks a lot ibhopeful532!! That's very kind of you to share your experience! If anyone else has anything to add to that, please do so. Thanks!
I do know someone who transferred from DB in US to another BB in HK. However, she just went through the normal recruiting process as opposed to "lateraling". Your group will not be too happy with your transfer and it's unlikely that the MD will help you out with it.
That being said, it's not difficult for a US banker with Mandarin capabilities to go to Asia so the lack of support from your team would not be a significant concern. I have been contacted for a couple opportunities just through headhunters.
As the last note, you should try to stay for one year instead of 6 months because chances are you won't be on any good deal for the first 3 months or so...
^ Second what Ricqles said. Generally, firms want analysts to complete 2 years with a group before transferring to another group, but the bare minimum is 1 year (that's how it was at my bank). Perform well in your 1st year, so you have a better chance of getting the MD's support (obviously they don't want people leaving their team, but if you're good, generally they'll be supportive).
Also, use your BB's directory to reach out to bankers in Asia and establish some relationship with them (let's say after 6+ months in). So when you're done your 1st year, you'll have some senior bankers aware of your interest, and if spots open up you'll hear about it first before the internal posting.
curious as to why you want to transfer to Asia? The Asian culture and Western/US culture is soo different and if you are in a very strong client facing role, you would be disadvantaged compared to native asians when it comes to interacting with the people and the politics there. Furthermore, if you're in a Euro/US bank, the Chinese government and other asian governments will limit the deals you can reach...
Ricqles & Kanon: Thanks for the input.
ambition56: Although I've lived in the US for the majority of my life so far, I consider myself a very Asia-oriented person... I also feel that my language skills will be more useful/appreciated in Asia. But again the biggest reason is family. But thanks for asking and the caveat.
Great discussion guys!! Keep them coming. I'm learning a lot here.
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