Hong Kong Career Blog

ANZ, Australia’s fourth leading lender, will follow other companies and seek to expand it’s operations in China and Asia as a whole.  The Age recently reported:

“Australia and New Zealand Banking Group expects Greater China to make up 50-60 percent of its Asia earnings in 2015 from about one-third by 2012 as it seeks to tap into one of the world’s fastest growing regions.  ‘It’s about Greater China taking over in the long term in Asia,’’ said Gilles Plante, the bank’s chief executive for North East Asia, Europe and America.
‘‘In the next three years, the biggest ambition in terms of earnings will be Taiwan and Hong Kong, together with Korea and Japan, and then it’s the mainland,’’ Plante said during a visit to mark ANZ’s acquisition of RBS assets in Taiwan.
ANZ plans to open 15-20 branches on mainland China, Asia’s fastest growing economy, up from 4 currently in the main cities of Shanghai and Beijing, Alex Thursby, the bank’s chief executive for Asia-Pacific, Europe and America, also said in the interview.
ANZ also plans to raise China staff to 800-1,000 in 2011 versus about 500 now, Thursby said.  The forecast come as Australia’s most ambitious bank in terms of planned Asia expansion seeks to bring 20 percent of its revenue from Asia by 2012 from 14 percent now.”

This is yet another indicator that the banking and financial services job market in Asia continues to improve, as are our expectations that recruitment efforts and  job opportunities will follow suit.   Hong Kong and Singapore companies have made it clear that they will add head count in the coming year.  However, our optimism will remain somewhat tempered, as the market may remain difficult for those who have been unemployed for an extended period or who are reluctant to take engagements that may not be as senior as they might have expected to attain prior to the economic crisis.

Nevertheless, we have a number of opportunities for qualified candidates in banking, accounting, marketing and more.  Please visit us at Ambition Hong Kong and Ambition Singapore to learn more.

Ambition has a number of great opportunities in Hong Kong and Singapore for talented professionals.  We also expect to have even more positions for qualified candidates in the coming months, as companies begin to increase recruitment in 2010 and reverse the recent trends of downsizing and hiring freezes.  Here are just a few of the latest positions for which we are seeking top quality professionals:

1. Director, Operational Risk, Trade Finance (Hong Kong)

Our client is one of the largest international banking groups with full range services in Corporate Banking including Trade Finance. Due to continuous improvement in risk and control across the region, a newly created opportunity has arisen for an experienced Risk Manager to join the team as Director of Operational Risk Management for the Trade Finance business in Asia, based in Hong Kong.  

Reporting to the Regional Head of Operational Risk, you will manage Operational Risk for the Trade Finance business in the Asia Pacific region ensuring the highest standard of risk management and governance are implemented and best practices are aligned across the business. You will partner with the business to guide and implement robust operational risk management practices, framework and self assessments. You will prioritise key risks and processes, identify, assess, escalate and mitigate risk issues. As a key representative from Operational Risk, you will drive risk awareness program, provide thought leadership to develop a balance between risk and reward, participate in risk review groups and regional / global projects.   

To learn more, please visit our job search page…

2. VP, Marketing and Brand Management – Private Bank (Singapore)

Our client is a Global Investment Bank that has a strong APAC presence. They are now looking to recruit a talented Marketing professional to drive the marketing strategy for their Private Bank across Asia Pacific.   

In this role you will be responsible for developing and implementing marketing, branding and advertising strategies and programs for APAC region. You will managing the full spectrum of brand marketing activities, which will include developing marketing materials and brand collateral, working closely with the product teams to provide marketing support for product launches and conducting in-depth market research, marketing analysis, value proposition and positioning development. In addition you will manage the agency relationships and online marketing strategies.   

To learn more, please visit our job search page…

For more information on these and other opportunities, please visit us at ambition.com.hk or ambition.com.sg

As evidence slowly mounts that the Global Economic Recession (GER) is beginning to turn around, we believe that hiring across a few key sectors will be showing a marked increase in the first and second quarters of 2010 when compared to the same period last year.

Of course, most reports have the highest hopes for new employment prospects in Asia, as domestic demand grows in APAC countries.  However, prospects in Asia are tied to the fortunes of Western economies and markets like China and Singapore will see more limited growth if the U.S. and European markets cannot continue to maintain the modest gains they have seen in the last few months.  For an interesting take on the mutual dependency between China and the U.S., take a look at this recent NPR story.  Obviously, the jobs discussed in the story aren’t high level finance or banking jobs, but it does vividly illustrate that Asian economies can’t continue to expand unless Western markets are making some gains in employment as well.

Generally, the outlook for recruiting banking and finance professionals is certainly better than as of a year ago. Already in Q1 we’re seeing some significant increases in hiring across banks and other financial institutions which is further reinforcement of these organisations’ commitment to this region. We feel that there will continue to be strong demand in financial services but more modest gains across commerce & industry in the first half of the year. We expect that hiring away from banking will gain momentum in the second half of the year.

For a full report, please click the image below or visit our resources page at the Ambition website

Executive Recruitment – Market Trends & Salaries Report 2010

Standard Chartered is expected to add more than 100 bankers to its private banking arm in 2010.  The hires will take place globally, but two-thirds of those new hires will be for the Asian market as the bank attempts to capitalise on the rebounding economies in India, China and Southeast Asia.  Standard Chartered joins a number of other firms that are increasing their recruiting efforts in Asia, where economies are recovering more swiftly than those of the EU and U.S.  According to a Merrill Lynch report,  there are approximately 2.4 million people with greater than $1m in investable assets and a total wealth of $7.4trn in Asia as of year end 2008.  Further, this market is expected to nearly double to $13.5trn by 2013.

We expect that that there will likely be a flow through effect which will result in the creation of back of house jobs, including accounting, operations, marketing and corporate communications positions as Standard Chartered and other firms seek to increase their profiles in Asia.

To view some of the open positions in these fields, please visit Ambition Hong Kong and Ambition Singapore

“Western banks pay out for Asia Talent” was a headline that grabbed me on the front page of the Financial Times this week (29 March 2010). The article focused on ‘big salaries for top bankers in the region’ and ‘competition leading to pre-crisis wage offers’. 

Although this referred to front line banking professionals on multi-million packages, it occurred to me that we should pass comment on banking industry pay for Ambition’s areas of specialisation in the sector: accounting, finance, operations and marketing & communications.

As we have posted before, the Asian markets are rebounding from the economic downturn faster than their Western counterparts and this in turn is beginning to manifest in a shortage of talent in the banking and financial services sector

It’s been a bruising 12-18 months within the banking & financial services employment sector but the hiring tap was firmly back on in Asia as early as May last year.

What’s important to point out is that base pay for those who retained their jobs never really went down. It was those who were unfortunately made redundant during the financial crisis that may have settled for lower base pay simply to get back into employment. If those individuals are still being underpaid relative to the market, you can almost guarantee they are looking around now.

Pay reviews in Q1 2010 broadly revealed very modest pay increases, if any, from banks & financial institutions. It was only those who were significantly underpaid or whose job had materially changed that were rewarded with raises.

It’s a different matter for those switching employer and I’m afraid we’re back into the cycle of skills shortages once again and relatively attractive pay hikes. In Q1 2010, Ambition has frequently been seeing 15 to 20% pay increases to jump ship.

On to the subject of bonuses, accountants, operations, audit, risk, compliance, marketing & communications professionals all have a much lighter back pocket from variable pay than front office bankers. That said, there’s been some very reasonable payouts of late but on average you won’t see these professionals earning more than 50% of base.

So when you read headlines about banking pay, don’t assume all employees fall into the same category.

For banking and financial services jobs which Ambition is currently handling, please visit Ambition Hong Kong or Ambition Singapore.

Hong Kong’s banking industry remained somewhat immune (relative to other markets) to the negative effects of the global economic downturn and furor over compensation packages in the banking and financial services sectors.  However, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has taken steps to ensure that this remains the case and has issued recommendations on regulating compensation that fall in line with those proposed by the G20.  The guideline on a sound remuneration system, which apply to both local and foreign banks, is intended to provide  guidance on the control and oversight of the remuneration systems of banks operating in Hong Kong.

The objective of the Guideline is set forth in the HKMA’s policy manual:

“The main objective of this module is to ensure that AIs’ (Authorised Institutions) remuneration systems are consistent with and promote effective risk management, in recognition of the fact that remuneration systems which create incentives towards inappropriate and excessive risk-taking could threaten the safety and soundness of the individual AI concerned and potentially thereby the stability of the local banking system. To this end, this module also describes the HKMA’s supervisory approach with regard to remuneration practices, in the context of the HKMA’s risk-based supervision of AIs.”

In response to the Guideline, Ambition recently commented on the implication:

“Overall, we think base salaries will be increased for some people and their bonuses reduced, but for revenue generating professionals (sales/trading etc) getting the balance right will be key.

What impact will this have on the job market? It will make some people leave their employers in search of better remuneration packages and it will also make some companies more attractive than others depending on the strategies they use for attracting the best talent. It will make negotiating remuneration package far more complex and will therefore make the recruitment process even longer. ”

We think that this effort to limit and/or regulate compensation packages may pose some challenges in the near term, but it may be a boon for banking and financial services professionals who are considering working in Hong Kong, as the market will continue to benefit from more stability and a more predictable outlook as to what they can expect to earn in the future.

For the full report and more information on the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, please visit their website.

Bonuses in Banking

Recently, the heads of Britain’s five largest banks have chosen to forgo millions of pounds in bonuses that were due to them.  The decision by some of the world’s most prominent bank executives was clearly a response to the public’s negative opinion of the finance and banking industries, but is also seen as an effort to protect lower level executives who are legally entitled to bonus packages negotiated prior to the economic downturn.  This is actually good news for job seekers.  If you’re looking for an engagement in the coming year, you obviously can’t expect to be offered the kinds of bonus packages that were being floated just two years ago.

However, the decision by many bank chiefs to forgo their bonuses shows that they understand that acquiring and protecting talent at all levels of the company is a priority.  And in the current environment, the best way to do that is to pay out what has been agreed upon with current employees, and step back from what may be considered to be excessive compensation for new hires.

This makes the coming year a good time to find a position that offers potential for long term growth, as firms seek to recruit individuals that they are happy to reward, but whom they expect to add value to their bottom line for years to come.

To see our projections of what finance and banking executives can expect in the coming year, please visit our market and salary report page.

Click here to view Ambition Market Trends & Salary Reports – Hong Kong

Click here to view Ambition Market Trends & Salary Reports – Singapore