Before COVID, Florida was seen as a place where old people go to retire. It was never a place where people thought they could build a good career as there weren’t many high paying finance jobs for young professionals.

Even today, NYC is still arguably the best place to start a career right after college, especially if you are planning to go the finance route. The number of companies, people and generally the high energy of the city is a great place to learn as fast as possible and network with very talented people.

That said, COVID forced a lot of finance firms to reevaluate whether being in a high cost/tax state was necessary since their employees went fully remote. It was a huge tailwind for places like Miami as companies and employees could cut costs dramatically by simply moving their headquarters to a different city.

List of Hedge Funds in Miami / South Florida

1. Citadel
2. Millennium Management
3. Point72 Asset Management
4. Balyasny Asset Management
5. Bayview Asset Management
6. Fir Tree Partners
7. Starboard Capital Partners
8. Icahn Enterprises
9. Bayside Asset Management
10. Moore Capital Management
11. D1 Capital Partners
12. Dimension Capital Management
13. GQG Partners
14. III Capital Management
15. Polen Capital Management
16. Meteora Capital Management
17. Forest Avenue Capital Management
18. Cito Capital Group
19. Dimension Capital Management
20. Archpoint Investors
21. Calixto Global Investors
22. Point Break Capital Management
23. Kawa Capital Management
24. Unison Asset Management
25. Azora Capital
26. Ratan Capital Management
27. Terrapin Asset Management
28. Divisadero Street Capital Management
29. Kinetic Partners Management
30. Bluemar Capital Management
31. Shaolin Capital Management
32. Gables Capital Management
33. ADW Capital Management
34. Hawkeye Capital Management
35. Fairholme Capital Management
36. Taika Capital
37. Concise Capital Management

List of Private Equity Funds in Miami / South Florida

1. Thoma Bravo
2. Apollo Global Management
3. HIG Capital
4. I Squared Capital
5. Hamilton Lane
6. Trivest Partners
7. Rialto Capital Management
8. 777 Partners
9. Arrowroot Capital
10. Lincoln Road Global Management
11. Boyne Capital Partners
12. Alterian Investment Partners
13. Hidden Harbor Capital Partners
14. Lorient Capital
15. ICV Partners
16. White Wolf Capital
17. Pine Tree Equity Partners
18. Blue Water Advisors
19. MKH Capital Partners

List of Investment Banks in Miami / South Florida

1. Oppenheimer
2. Rothschild
3. RBC Capital Markets
4. Truist
5. TD Cowen
6. Cross Keys Capital

If any are missing in the above lists, comment below and will add.

Why Are Finance Firms Moving To Miami?

Lower Taxes

Miami naturally became the go to destination for finance firms, especially for hedge funds and private equity firms. Cities like NYC, SF, and LA have extremely high tax rates where you end up paying over 50% if you are in the top income tax bracket while Miami has 0% city and 0% state taxes. Your all-in tax rate for high income earners caps out at ~38% in Florida, a 12% difference just by relocating to another state for at least six months of the year.

For the wealthy, taxes are their biggest expense. Just think about it. If you are making $1 million a year, you automatically save $100K+ a year by just moving to Miami for six months out of the year. For those very high earners in finance who make millions from carried interest and have a top 1% net worth, the savings from just changing your residency are truly shocking.

There is a reason why Ken Griffin (founder of Citadel) has relocated its headquarters to Miami (even though he publicly says it’s because of crime, it’s really because of taxes).

Let me give you an example of how much a very high earner can save by living in Miami. If you are in private equity or at a hedge fund and are fortunate to get a $5 million bonus, that’s over $500K in tax savings alone. Literally $500K! It took me three years of working around the clock as an investment banker and another three years on the buyside at a hedge fund to save that amount of money.

So naturally, you can see why finance firms are relocating in droves to places like Miami. While Miami is still a long way off from being the finance capital of the world, the city is increasingly becoming the go to destination for buyside firms for mostly this reason.

Lifestyle Appeal

Working as a finance professional in NYC is very stressful, especially during the first five years of your career. I remember I didn’t get home anytime before 10pm for the most part working as an investment banker for the first couple of years out of college.

NYC just operates on a different work ethic level. Everyone is focused on their careers and trying to climb the corporate ladder, especially in finance. Now this is absolutely not a bad thing when you first start working. You want to be surrounded by people who work hard and are career focused in your 20s when you are just starting to make a name for yourself. But once you get into your 30s, are more established and are thinking about having a family, NYC is just not an easy place to be.

Miami as you can imagine operates on a much more relaxed/slower pace compared to NYC. Work life balance is much better across finance firms in Miami. You have the beaches, the sun, the space, and all the outdoor activities year-round (except for the summer where it can get pretty unbearable to be outside in the sun for long periods of time).

Lower Cost of Living

Depending on where you live, you get much more bang for your buck down in Miami. Even though rents have gone up significantly in Miami post COVID, especially in popular neighborhoods like Brickell and Midtown, you still can get a larger/newer space with hotel-like amenities for less than a place in the main neighborhoods of Manhattan.

Business-Friendly Regulations

Unfortunately, we are living in an environment where those who create successful business and make large sums of money are big targets for politicians. In general, Florda has made a good environment for businesses to thrive. Lighter regulations and a more streamlined bureaucratic process make it easier for financial institutions to set up shop and expand without unnecessary hurdles.

Good Location Near Major Airports

Having access to direct flights to major cities around the world is very important when it comes to attracting companies and talent. Miami has two major airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale that are ~20-40 minutes with direct flights to most cities.

There are numerous flights to NYC and other major cities every day, so getting around is very easy especially with how close the airports are.

If interest in learning more about living in Miami vs. NYC, can read the 10 Reasons why Miami is Better than NYC.