Man Group's strange choice of a former head of MTV to get ahead in China
While jobs are cut in London, another organization is making a push into China.
The Financial Times reports that UK hedge fund Man Group has got a 5-10 year plan to push into China and that it intends to open a "fully fledged research and trading office in Beijing in the near future."
Working on this push, will be Man co-founder Pierre Lagrange and David Mercurio, a former portfolio manager at the Singapore Government's Investment Corporation. Lagrange says the company is, "definitely looking to "deploy more resources on the ground."
Man has also found someone to lead operations in Beijing. That person is the Ms. Yifei Li, the former head of MTV in China and MD China of GLG Partners. Li will be its "China chair" and will "oversee the push."
At first sight, the overlaps between running a music-orientated television station and an Asian hedge fund are limited. At second sight, they're still limited.
Why has Man opted for an ex-MTV executive to run its China business? The answer may be the need for experienced Westernized Chinese with strong contacts in China. 47 year old Li was educated in the US and worked in the UN and US law firms. She returned to China in 1995 and worked for Burson Marsteller before moving to Viacom/MTV and then GLG.
She gave a long interview about her career in 2009 in which she claimed all the different roles she'd worked in during her career were "interrelated" and that at the end of the day, it's all about, "being hardworking and focused on what you do."
Li also said GLG hired her for her, "decision making, networking skills and ability to find commercial opportunities and put different parties together to create win-win situations."
The popularity of well-networked Chinese like Li, even if they don't have financial services experience, illustrates the challenges faced by unemployed Western financiers who they want to penetrate the Chinese job market. Cherol Cheuk, general manager of Hudson Shanghai, told our China site that front-office candidates may be expected to list down important contacts from their network- including government officials.
Nevertheless, it makes sense to cultivate links to China early in a career. In 2010, UK graduates in Chinese studies achieved the highest starting salary of any subject.
