Are you a senior banker in Hong Kong worried about whether your role will be taken by an ambitious junior who’s currently rising up the ranks? Or are you a finance student looking for role-model young bankers who’ve already made a mark on the firm you want to work for?
We’ve searched through public profiles of associate-level employee in Hong Kong to find some high-achieving junior bankers to inspire (or aggravate) you.
Cynthia Xiuyuan Cheng, UBS: Swiss to Chinese then back again
It’s not just at a senior level in which Western and Chinese banks are now battling for the same talent in Hong Kong. Cheng began her career with a two-year stint in equity capital markets (ECM) at Credit Suisse before being poached CICC, where she spent a similar amount of time. She then went Swiss again – joining UBS in October last year as an associate. Her early-career experience in both environments should make Cheng an attractive candidate to banks looking for VPs in the future.
Bo Hong Deng, Goldman Sachs: GS over Google
You intern as a software engineer at Google, then you do the same at Facebook, so naturally you go into banking after you graduate. As odd as it sounds, Deng did just that – but if any bank can prove more alluring than the two tech giants, it’s Goldman. Deng didn’t even join Goldman’s IT ranks, he became a macro structuring analyst at the firm’s Hong Kong office in 2011. And this month he’s achieved a remarkable internal career change – he’s now working in FX options trading as an associate.
Sherjan Husainie, Morgan Stanley: interview guru
Husainie started his career at Houlihan Lokey and then Morgan Stanley in the US. By 2013 he’d tired of banking and moved to…Google, where he spent nearly two years “accelerating big ideas” as an analyst in its Mountain View, California headquarters. Now he’s back in IB and back at MS – but this time he’s based in Hong Kong, proof that expats are still being hired into mid-ranking roles. Husainie also has a rather big side project: he’s the founder of Leaders Global Network, which offers free resume and interview workshops to help young professionals “increase their ability to succeed in the fields of investment banking, consulting, accounting and entrepreneurship”.
Krystal Tang, HSBC: corporate climber
You don’t have to job hop between banks to advance your career in Hong Kong investment banking – Tang rose relatively quickly up the ranks by joining HSBC’s management associate programme in 2011. After being rated an “outstanding performer” in her cohort she then become a full-time associate specialising in financial intuitions, currently a sought-after job sector in Hong Kong banking. Tang originally joined HSBC in her native Singapore and is now among the growing band of Singaporean bankers forging successful careers in Hong Kong.
Florence Chan, Standard Chartered: front-office surprise
If you thought that Stan Chart was only cutting jobs in Asia (or that it was just hiring in the middle and back office), Chan’s case may make you reconsider. She only joined the firm late last year and she joined as an associate in…mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Chan started out at Merrill Lynch and then spent two years at Franklin Templeton Investments before rejoining the sell-side. Impressively, she’s already passed the CFA Level III.
Ian Lu, Deutsche Bank: mainland talent
Lui is among a growing number of mainland bankers who have attended Hong Kong colleges (the University of Hong Kong in his case) and gone straight into Hong Kong banking jobs (Societe Generale’s project finance team). Banks are looking for Chinese talent who not only know Mandarin but have impeccable academics (Lui won the Sola Gratia Scholarship at HKU and was on the dean’s honour list). He’s also timed his job moves to perfection, with two-year tenures – the minimum respectable length to avoid creating a ‘choppy’ CV – at Soc Gen, Jefferies and now (to date) at Deutsche. Lui works in the German firm’s consumer / TMT investment banking team.
Kevin Li, Credit Suisse: riding the growth wave
If you’re looking for a new bank to join in Hong Kong, Credit Suisse should be fairly high up your list – the firm remains bullish on Asia and has new plans to expand in and generate more revenue from the region. Li joined CS only in September last year, in a latest of a string of upward moves to more elite banks: he started out at RBS in 2010, moved to RBC soon after, and then went Jefferies.
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