eFinancialCareers

The new Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX) is searching for staff as it prepares for trading in early 2009. SMX is looking to boost its current 15-strong headcount, according to a director-level spokesman. He tells us: “We are recruiting aggressively at the moment and expect to have about 75 staff in place by the time we go live. From there, we aim to grow to about 100 and we will... Read more

It’s probably the best-kept secret in Australian banking circles right now. Just how big will Macquarie Bank’s profit be when it reports its annual results on 20th May, and will employee bonuses rise, fall or remain the same as last year? The bonus question has just about everyone stumped, with recruiters having little if anything to go by, except Macquarie’s own recent forecast that its full-year earnings will be up about... 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

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

Wall Street is definitely not the flavour of the month at the moment, especially when it comes to investment banking. It’s not really surprising, therefore, that many Australians working in the Big Apple are checking out their job options for fear they may not have a job in the very near future. According to Adam Gillibrand, Australian-based executive director for US recruitment and consulting firm Options Group, an increasing number of expat... 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

Forget US business schools, a new study suggests MBAs from China see the biggest boost to their earnings once the course has finished. The Financial Times’ 2008 MBA report found that alumni from Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University and Beijing’s China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) land the biggest salary increases upon graduation – 177% and 157% respectively. By comparison, graduates from a big name like the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School... 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

There are signs that Australia’s appetite for banking talent isn’t quite what it was. According to the latest Olivier Internet Job Index, banking and finance was one of the slowest growing sectors in the past 12 months, dropping 1.45% in January. Is the sky falling in on the banking recruitment market? Bob Olivier, the report’s author, and director at Olivier Recruitment Group, says he’s not convinced: “We’re putting it down to interest... Read more

Senior women in Australia earn 50% less than their male counterparts, according to a Federal Government report. Is the same true in banking? No – at least not according to Bob Olivier, a director at the Olivier Recruitment Group in Sydney. He says the report’s findings astonished him. “My experience is that clients won’t offer a job to Julie rather than Steve to save on salary. It might be that if... Read more