Is international experience always an advantage in Russia?
Our research suggests that Russian bankers abroad are better educated than Russian bankers who spend their careers in Moscow. But will time spent overseas really help your career when you get back?
The answer is that it depends.
If you're a native Russian who's spent time working in London, Asia or New York and you want to move back to Moscow, you're still likely to need knowledge of local markets. "Most employers would look for someone who knows and understands Russia very well, so having only experienced 'abroad' sometimes isn't enough. A good mix of both would be the preference in the majority of cases," says Nick Rees, country manager for financial recruitment firm S3.
Nevertheless, some banks place a premium on hiring individuals with experience overseas. In the past international banks settling in Moscow were most likely to recruit bankers from New York or London, says Taru Oksman-Ison, founder of emerging markets search firm Riverhouse Partners. Today, however, she says it's the Russian banks that are most interested in hiring international talent. Take, for example, Renaissance Capital's appointment of Morgan Stanley veteran John Hyman as Moscow-based co-head of banking and financing. Hyman had most recently worked for Cheyne Capital Management in London.
"If you have international experience in a top investment bank in New York or London and then go back to Moscow you will almost certainly propel your career path forwards" argues Oksman-Ison.
Ms Oksman-Ison points to the international backgrounds of Russia's most successful bankers. For example, Yuriy Soloviev, President and CEO of VTB Capital, has an MBA from London Business School and gained all his experience working for Lehman
Brothers and Deutsche Bank.
However, the days when it was imperative to spend time abroad in order to get ahead are past. Oksman-Ison points to the senior management at Troika Dialog, most of whom have spent their entire careers in Russia and worked their way up at the same firm. Equally, Vladimir Tartachuk, head of corporate investment banking at Alfa Bank, has spent most of his career there and returned to the firm this summer after a stint of less than a year at VTB Capital.
International experience combined with domestic knowledge will, probably, be helpful. But it is no longer imperative.
