Comments on: Investment Banking in Hong Kong: The Financial Center of the Future World Order?

By: M&I - Brian

M&I - Brian — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 15:21:19 +0000

In reply to KK. Thanks, I think. Good luck - HK is a very tough place for non-Chinese students to find jobs/internships, but it might be possible in some industries.

By: KK

KK — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 15:52:10 +0000

Wow this is so accurate based on my personal feelings as an international student from China now recruiting for HK internships

By: M&I - Brian

M&I - Brian — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 14:49:51 +0000

In reply to Faridul Islam Nayem.

I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m not quite sure what to tell you. HK is not a great place to work if you do not know Chinese (20-30 years ago, it was possible, but things have changed because of the rise of mainland China over that time). My advice here would be to look for some type of finance-related job in HK after graduation that doesn’t require much client interaction, meaning that the language will not be an issue. Some sales & trading and other markets-related jobs fall into this category, though they are also quite competitive to win. Another option might be to apply for a Master’s degree in another country and see if you can get a scholarship to complete it somewhere else. Unfortunately, I don’t have a complete list of all “jobs that do not require Chinese and are also based in HK,” but you might be able to find something if you search on LinkedIn.

By: Faridul Islam Nayem

Faridul Islam Nayem — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 21:23:07 +0000

This is a very comprehensive suggestion. I’m an international student from Bangladesh who will start undergraduate in PolyU from september 2023 in accounting & finance. I chose HK thinking that HK has so many international companies specially banks and here finance companies are so lucrative to work as English is one of the official language of HK. But after getting admission in PolyU, I started researching on how to actually land a job in HK and I what I found really broke my heart. I had dreams of working in IB in HK but I think it won’t be possible for the language barrier and not being a target school applicant. Besides I’ve checked other big 3 IB, Big 4 accounting firms and other corporate banks and asset management banks and now I starting regretting my decision to study in HK. Most of the open positions even in multinational banks I found that they require proficiency in either cantonese or mandarin. But both are the top 5 difficult language to learn. It is estimated that if I want to be a intermediate user of any of those languages it’ll take 4-5 years studying for 2 hours a day which is impossible for me. Moreover, I’m not from a target school. But I’m in such a situation that I can’t change my decision for moving to HK. I even got 100% scholarship from HKU in BBA but still I’m attending to PolyU because that’s much poor my family is. PolyU gave me 140% scholarship which includes 50k hkd per year as living expenses. Given these, I won’t be able to go for my Master’s in another country because without scholarhsip I won’t be able to study for my Master’s in an English speaking country. So the only option left for me is to stay in HK as long as I need after completing my BBA from PolyU. So it’s inevitable for me to get a job right out of graduation otherwise I’ll be in problem as I won’t have any money to pay for my accommodation and living expenses after graduation. All that being said, could you please enlighten me about what types of job I should be eligible for without any language barrier and will be easier for me to get into? I’m really really worried about my future right now. It’d be so helpful for me if you can guide me to the right direction.

By: Zachary Teo

Zachary Teo — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 03:55:06 +0000

In reply to M&I - Brian. Looking forward to seeing it! As a Singaporean M&A consultant 2 years out of university your articles have been very helpful in shedding light on the obscure niches of this industry.

By: M&I - Brian

M&I - Brian — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 14:37:07 +0000

In reply to nana. Thanks. Being Chinese is "not helpful" in the sense that it doesn't make you stand out in HK anymore. It's more of a requirement to win most IB roles there. But I don't think having a European passport (in addition to a Chinese one) would improve your chances or make you more competitive in HK. It would help you more in London or places like Paris, especially if you also know European languages.

By: nana

nana — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 01:03:18 +0000

Thank you so much for everything you do. As a first generation university student, your work has helped so much!

I often hear that being a Chinese national in Hong Kong is not that helpful because of harsher competition, and that it would be better to hold an European passport. That isn’t so accurate anymore right?

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:47:02 +0000

In reply to M&I – Brian.

Hope 2023 has been great for you so far!

Looking forward to that, thanks in advance.

By: M&I - Brian

M&I - Brian — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 11:00:45 +0000

In reply to Joel Lee.

It’s more accurate to say you don’t need it for the trading part of S&T. For sales, the local language is almost always required. But traders do not communicate directly with clients – mostly just other traders and team members – and so trading teams still tend to be more international.

By: Joel Lee

Joel Lee — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 01:47:58 +0000

why wouldn’t you need to know mandarin to do S&T in HK? I would understand quant though.