What does the strategic partnership between VTB and BTG Pactual mean for your Russian banking career?

BTG Pactual and VTB have teamed up. As was reported last weekend, the two banks have formed a strategic partnership to explore business opportunities in wealth management, investment banking and trading in both Latin America and Russia.

It's not clear precisely how the strategic partnership will function, or whether it will involve any additional hiring at either firm. However, the partnership underlines the changing nature of banking relationships and echoes what J Michael Evans, head of growth markets at Goldman Sachs said in a recent video.   

Future growth will be all about links between growth markets, suggested Evans - not about links between growth markets and the West.

If you're a banker in Russia, the implication is that rather than looking towards London or New York to develop your career, you should focus on Shanghai, Johannesburg or São Paulo. The BTG-VTB partnership captures this perfectly.