Read Dilshad's story
In my view, to understand why HSBC is the future of banking we need to look at the direction banking is moving in. Banking is moving more and more eastwards and south. I think the focus of banking has moved from the more mature Western, European and US markets to these areas. I think emerging economies will drive a lot of IB business going forward, and HSBC is very well positioned to capitalise on this.
To give you an example of how I've seen HSBC work globally, we get this a lot, for example, where a client in the US is looking to buy an asset in India or a client in the UK is looking to buy an asset in the Far East, a client is looking to raise capital globally. And I think HSBC is very well positioned to capitalise on these kinds of requests, specifically because of the global presence and the deep local understanding that we have. So I think this is a great example of HSBC being the future of banking – because banking is global.
Global connectivity is key to the Financial Institutions Group, which is where I work. We work with large global insurance firms, asset managers and banks. They all either wish to acquire in other areas of the globe or they wish to raise capital in other areas of the globe. So, global expertise as well as deep local presence is very important to the work that we do in the Financial Institutions Group.
I chose to work in Global Banking Advisory because of the fast-moving nature of the work. Another important reason is that I like to work in an area that provides me with a lot of diversity. Let me give you an example. Last week I was working on a German bank and next week I may be working on an asset manager in India. It really is that diverse, and there aren't that many finance areas which allow you to do that. The key reason why I joined Global Banking Advisory is the people. I think you get to meet and work with some of the most talented people in finance. This department just tends to attract ambitious and talented individuals, which gives you a lot of opportunity to learn and develop.
The most exciting piece of work I've been doing at HSBC is actually a project that I'm currently on. We're doing buy side advisory for a private equity fund which is looking to take a minority stake in a hedge fund. This is very exciting work primarily because hedge funds are very sophisticated and are generally owned by the partner who runs it. We're seeing this more and more now and we have clients who are some of the most challenging in the industry. So it makes it a challenge, it makes for some long nights, but it's very satisfying work.
In my career at HSBC I want to build up a deep and solid understanding of finance, in particular financial advisory. I think there are two aspects of it: First, it's learning what good financial advice is, and we have a great team of senior people who are great at this and it's really about learning from them. The second part of it is how to deliver that advice as you become more senior. And I think, through these two steps, you learn to understand the client and how to deliver good financial advice, and that's really what I'm looking to achieve over the next many years at HSBC hopefully.
I love London. This is my favourite city in the world and I've been in New York, I've been in Tokyo and in Paris. I had an offer to work in New York. In fact I spent two years in the US; I was in London for seven years prior to that. This is by far my favourite city in the world. It's very diverse, it's got so much art and culture and most of all, for me, it's got more food options and that's really important for me. Overall, I love the city and I wouldn't move anywhere else long-term.
