Private equity (PE) is still the promised land for many senior bankers, but don’t expect an Asian PE job if you’ve just been axed in the Big Apple.

Carlyle’s poaching of Sunil Kaul from Citibank Japan is a recent example of an i-banking hotshot shifting to the buy-side. And XD Yang, managing director of Carlyle Asia Partners, can’t get enough of the experience they bring: “This addition underscores our strategy of hiring seasoned operational executives as an integral part of the team to provide deep expertise in key sectors.”

Bain Capital, KKR and CVC have also been taking talent from the banks, says Fabrice Desmarescaux, head of Asia Pacific financial services at Spencer Stuart. But he warns that opportunities are limited if you lack local knowledge.

“You can't expect to walk into Asia and originate deals tomorrow. US and European bankers just don't have the contacts nor the experience to function effectively in Asia overnight. So given the choice, folks with Asian experience will always come a mile ahead of job seekers from overseas, whose only experience is the corner Thai takeaway restaurant,” says Desmarescaux.

Jeremy Canning, head of Morgan McKinley’s Singapore office, has noticed a rise in applications from the US and Europe and also from Australia and the Middle East. “But firms are more cautious now, they are only looking for people who have Asian networks in place.”

Bankers within the M&A, principal investments or leverage finance teams at the i-banks are the most suited to private equity roles, says Jennifer Goh, a consultant at Robert Walters. “But it’s not always easy to make the transition. In investment banking you get used to selling the bank’s products, but on the buy-side the roles are very different – you’re investing the fund’s money,” she adds.