eFinancialCareers

2007 ended badly, and 2008 may well start the same, but this year will be better for some things than others. 2008 will be a good year for… Ops jobs Junior and more menial roles may be heading to Asia, but recruiters say there’s still going to be ample demand for senior banking operations staff in Australia. “People with 10 years-plus operations experience, who want to broaden their experience, will have plenty of... Read more

It was a year of two halves for Aussie bankers: the first good, the second bad. But some had it better and worse than others. 2007 was a good year for: Wealth managers 1 July 2007 marked a radical change in the way Australians plan for retirement. As a result superannuation inflows went through the roof. Recruiter Luke Heath from Chandler Heath, says wealth managers, in particular, made hay. “Private bankers, stockbrokers, financial... Read more

ANZ Bank’s new chief executive, former HSBC boss Mike Smith, has wasted little time in putting his personal stamp on the bank. With strong plans to extend ANZ’s domestic and international reach, Smith – who joined in October – has been tweaking the bank’s management ranks since arriving. Two recent appointments include former colleague Susie Babani to take the role of group general manager human resources, a position formerly known within the... Read more

Forget the sub-prime crisis, Australia’s bankers still expect to cash in with higher bonuses this year. Our survey of 20,270 global bankers found that 50.3% of those based in Australia expect to receive higher bonuses this year, with only 8.3% expecting their bonuses to be lower than the bumper payouts of 2006. 23% of Aussie respondents expected their bonuses to increase by less than 10%, and 10% expected bonuses to rise more... Read more

A high-profile case, which has embroiled ANZ in controversy, illustrates the danger of being misled about career prospects. Former head of institutional banking Steve Targett is seeking AU$2.1m in damages, after claiming the Aussie bank left him with the wrong impression about its financial health and his future prospects when he signed on in 2004. Targett is claiming that he left his AU$2.5m a year job with Lloyds TSB after being assured... Read more

Australia’s rising dollar has the potential to attract overseas finance professionals. The Aussie reached a 23-year high of US$0.90 last month – up a whopping 86% since 2001. Since the start of 2007 it’s also up around 9% against sterling and 5% against the euro. With the rising dollar making Australian jobs increasingly lucrative for international bankers, anyone would think Sydney might see an influx of people from the City of London,... Read more

With industry jargon increasing as quickly as the average carbon footprint, Australia’s major banks are embracing corporate social responsibility in a big way. By building up dedicated CSR teams, big banks like Westpac, National Australia Bank (NAB) and ANZ are moving to adopt processes that are seen – both internally by employees and externally by suppliers and investors – as ethical, transparent, environmentally friendly and sustainable. NAB, through its institutional banking and... Read more