eFinancialCareers

The bad news for banking jobs has continued with the latest release of the Oliver Job Index. The monthly report says total banking and finance job advertisements fell 3.8% in July and 13.92% over the previous 12 months. The year-on-year decline was the worst of any sector. Report author Bob Olivier, director of recruiter Olivier Group says retail banking jobs were hardest hit, while i-banking job ads were down 2.9% for... Read more

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) is set to slash 600 jobs but recruitment and salaries in the insurance sector are still staying strong at a senior level. The Sydney-based firm also reported its first loss in six years and says it will sell its floundering UK business (Melbourne Age). Grant Williams, of Reynolds Stockbrokers, explains: “They’ve had a fairly big exposure to the equities market…Apart from problems with their UK operations, they’ve also... Read more

Carlyle Group is expanding in Australia with the appointment of ex-ANZ banker David Balint as director of leveraged finance. The US-based private equity firm will now have two dedicated teams Down Under – buyout and leveraged finance – with eight executives based in its Sydney office. According to Balint, this is just the start of a determined push by Carlyle in the region. “The leveraged finance team sees... Read more

Boutique investment advisers are picking up the slack as overseas i-banks continue to take heat from the credit crunch. Lazard Carnegie Wylie, which recently announced that it almost trebled its profits in the last half of 2007, is leading the way (Business Spectator). Victoria Biggs, from Jon Michel Executive Search, says tough times often provide local operations with access to quality candidates as the big boys take a... Read more

Times are getting tougher for bankers, with jobs growth in the finance sector slumping 3.1% since May 2007, according to latest instalment of the monthly Olivier Job Index. Report author Bob Olivier says it’s even worse in i-banking, where job ads are down 9.7% on an annualised basis. “The transactions aren’t happening like last year,” explains Olivier. “IPO activity is also down." Despite the dim jobs outlook for bankers,... Read more

There are mega deals in prospect such as BHP Billiton’s bid for Rio Tinto, the Westpac and St George merger plus Xstrata’s play for Indophil, yet it looks like slim pickings for M&A bankers in 2008. Analyst Colin Whitehead from equities research firm Fat Prophets says the liquidity crisis and the higher cost of funds could restrict M&A activity. “But there’s still life out there and within resources there are... Read more

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is set to spend big on upgrading its aging IT systems, in a move which could mean more jobs for techies. The bank is coughing up AU$580m over four years to drag itself kicking and screaming into the 21st century and has selected software provider SAP to make it happen. While CBA refused to comment on the job implications of the upgrade, Simon Lynch, national director, technology,... Read more

There is drama galore in the murky world of securitization, but for bankers’ jobs the outlook seems decidedly tragic. It remains to be seen whether the recent decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to buy AU$780m of mortgage-backed bonds will help to kick-start the market, says one leading economist, who asked not to be named. In the short-term at least, this isn’t exactly sweet music for... Read more

Bank of Ireland has opened a project finance office in Sydney and is looking to create more jobs in the city, according to Tom Hayes, chief executive of the firm’s corporate banking division. “Over the next 12 to 18 months, we see significant opportunities in a number of key market areas, including the electricity market (particularly generation), oil and gas plus infrastructure/PPP,” says Hayes. “We have a solid pipeline of... Read more

It’s left the finances of some of Australia’s biggest local governments in poor shape, but Lehman Brothers is adamant the Grange Securities fiasco and the credit squeeze won’t force an early exit from the domestic market. The global i-bank has grown its Australian staff by 50-60 over the past 12 months, according to Michelle Sprod, head of marketing at Lehmans. “We will continue to grow as the market dictates and... Read more

Domestic and international bond markets returned to favour in the first quarter of 2008. A report from Morningstar indicates the domestic bond index jumped 2.21%, while hedged international bonds chalked up a 2.72% return for the quarter. Citigroup’s credit sector specialist, Mark Reade, says corporate bond volumes are also strong, with the banks and AAA Kangaroo issuing at lofty levels. “It’s been so strong that almost AU$20bn in corporate bonds... Read more

First quarter 2008 was a nightmare for world share markets, as investor confidence was squeezed by sizeable bad debt writedowns by banks across the globe and mounting evidence that the US is headed for recession. The MSCI World Index finished the quarter down 12.4% in AU$ terms, contributing to a minus 14.6% return for the year to 31 March. Portfolio mix still global Despite the gloom, Australian institutional and retail... Read more

The bottom has fallen out of the leveraged finance market, but there don't seem to have been many redundancies – yet. Sharad Jain, director of the financial institutions ratings group at Standard & Poors, says there’s certainly been a significant increase in pricing associated with lending into leveraged finance transactions. “Given the current market volatility, the Australian banks are increasingly cautious about lending to corporates, particularly those who are more leveraged,” he... Read more

The spate of senior-level technology departures at St George Bank continues. Acting chief information officer, Greg Booker, was the latest to jump ship. Booker is off to wealth management and insurance company ING Australia. St George failed to comment on the departure or whether it signalled a major upheaval for IT jobs at the bank or in the sector as a whole. While St George remains tight lipped, recruiter Simon... Read more

Volumes of electricity and futures options have hit record levels and energy trading desks are fizzing. d-cyphaTrade, the energy market’s official product sponsor and development company, says the number of financial energy trading desks has doubled since June 2007, with the banks and options trading houses among the biggest movers and shakers. Dean Price, general manager of d-cypha, explains, “The Australian energy trading industry has recently boomed because of the lure... Read more

It's not looking good if you fancy landing a job in the Australian financial services market. The Aussie banking sector job market is floundering, according to the most recent monthly instalment of the Olivier Job Index. Report author Bob Olivier, a director of recruiter Olivier Group, attributes the poor results – down 5.12% in February – to the credit crunch, interest rate rises and the stock market sell-off. “Sub-prime write-offs have hurt... Read more

Are we about to see torrential demand for bankers and traders with agricultural expertise? Maybe – the recent end of the drought in some areas and rising prices for soft commodities are creating opportunities both for traders specialising in agricultural products, and for agri-economists who can predict what’s going to happen next in the sector. According to the Australian Financial Review, agri-economists in particular are now hot property, with new listed... Read more

Could it be banks have failed in their 30-year crusade against insider trading? Yes, according to one senior banker. Last month, Caliburn chairman Peter Hunt was reported in the Melbourne Age as saying, “Unusual price movements ahead of takeover announcements and capital raisings in this market are frustratingly commonplace.” Hunt’s frank comments follow hot on the heels of the SocGen fiasco and trader suspensions at Credit Suisse. Will banks now rush... Read more

It’s been a rough six months for Aussie banks, and one leading stockbroker says more losses could be in store. Since August last year, shares in NAB have plummeted 26%, ANZ shareholders have lost 23%, and Babcock & Brown and Macquarie shares have also taken decent hits. Grant Williams, a director of Sydney-based stockbroker Reynolds, says without a crystal ball it’s difficult to say for sure where share prices are headed.... Read more

Research from international recruiter Robert Walters reveals middle office specialists in Australia are hot to trot in 2008. The report says product control is in red hot demand and that a Sydney-based product accountant/controller with three to five years’ experience can earn AU$125k, compared with AU$105k last year. Likewise, financial accountants can currently earn AU$125k, compared with AU$100k in 2007. Neil Dyball, associate director of the banking division at Robert... Read more