The luxury high-rise club where Hong Kong bankers go to get jobs
If you want a senior investment banking job in Hong Kong, you could approach headhunters or look online…or you could become a member of The Hong Kong Bankers Club (HKBC).
The exclusive wining, dining and networking haunt of the city’s top bankers is moving to the Nexxus Building on Connaught Road in Central in October next year, according to a new letter sent to members and reported in the South China Morning Post. In the meantime, you can still carry out your job search at the club’s current high-rise digs, on the 43rd and 44th floors of Gloucester Tower.
You are advised to be subtle about your intentions – this is no place for instigating overt discussions about current openings in another member’s bank, says a Hong Kong banker-turned headhunter. It is, however, a forum to meet other bankers (often for the first time) and get to know them and their work – and that can ultimately put you front of mind when there’s a future vacancy in their team.
“The club is a centralised meeting place for many senior people within the financial ecosystem, so a lot of transaction ideas are exchanged, and career opportunities shared,” says Stanley Soh, a Hong Kong-based regional director of financial services solutions in Asia. “The high-level meetings held there could be catalysts for job moves,” he adds.
Therein lies the rub: you won’t be networking yourself into Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan if you’re an associate or VP. Members typically come from the upper ranks (directors and MDs), says the headhunter, adding that senior foreign bankers often get membership included in their benefits packages. There are more than 2k members, including both individual and corporate ones, according to the HKBC website. The club, whose annual fees are said to be exceedingly high, therefore draws from a small, exclusive pool of Hong Kong’s 200k-plus finance professionals.
Where are the best places within the club to schmooze bankers from the firms you want to work for? You have plenty of options, most of which feature spectacular views over Victoria Harbour. For Chinese dining, try The Dragon, where the set lunch costs HK$398 and includes “steamed South African lobster with egg white and carb roe served with Hua Diao wine”. The Treasury restaurant, meanwhile, is “decorated in French Provincial style” and offers international gourmet food. There’s also a bar and banqueting, meeting and function rooms.
But beware: you must network within the club’s rules. If you’re looking for a hideaway from the office to field calls from headhunters, this is not the place. Using mobiles is banned and phones must be switched off on arrival. And while your bank may have dress-down Fridays, the club doesn’t. Business attire is mandatory everywhere during weekdays – apart from evenings at the bar, where “smart casual” (but still no jeans, T-shirts and sports shoes) is tolerated.
HKBC’s new 20k sq ft Connaught Road headquarters, a mere eight-minute walk from its existing location, is similar in size to its current one and is expected to be equally – if not more – luxurious. The club was founded by overseas bankers in 1977, moved to Gloucester Tower in 1981, and is vacating this building because its lease is not being renewed.
Image credit: Rawpixel, Getty
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