Apollo London - What's it like?

it’s not easier sir. if anything there are groups that are even more intense. and all for like 60% of the pay that their US counterparts get. it’s sad really. but no choice at the end of the day for them. I would think PE works just as hard as the NYC folk - on the pay front I’m not sure what the differential is but I pray to god it’s not a 40% haircut like the IB folk!

I worked at a top BB (GS/MS/JPM) in London taking principal risk for the firm, and can confirm that we were one of those teams making 60-70% of what our NYC peers were making, and working almost double the hours. Likewise, promotion tracks tend to be much shorter and standardized in the US than in Europe. In my group, an analyst would become associate in 2-3 years tops in NYC, but in 4-5 years in my team in London. Likewise the next jump to VP typically took 2ish more years in London.

I would also add that most US locations (save NYC and LA) are not going to be on par with London, so you can't really generalize on US vs London. This has been my own, and some of my peers' experience. For instance, one friend (BB, not GS/MS/JPM) moved internally from London to offices in SF where they told me everything felt very provincial - relaxed atmosphere, probably 30-40% fewer hours than London, and teammates not of the caliber of London peers...but all paid the same or more than people in London.

Just further evidence that London is not an easy-going, super friendly place to work compared to the US as a whole. You should generally expect similar to worse hours and money than in NYC/ LA.

It's a really important myth to dispel, because I saw people transfer from NYC to London at my firm mainly chasing a dream of a better work-life balance, only to find out it was actually orders of magnitude more brutal here. They did not last long thereafter, and everyone was worse off for it.