eFinancialCareers

Will 40-year-old Cameron Clyne’s appointment as NAB’s new chief executive lead to more youngsters heading up Aussie finance firms? (The Australian) “Age is really irrelevant to the choice of who does what job. It’s about ability and skills for the job,” says David Miles, COO at JP Morgan. “Employers want people with fire in the belly, young and hungry and willing to go the extra mile. They’ve got the energy... Read more

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

National Australia Bank has declared an interest in buying ABN AMRO’s Australasian wing, a move that would catapult it fully into the investment banking club and could create fresh job opportunities. Takeovers usually mean lay-offs, but perhaps not this time. NabCapital – NAB’s institutional and capital markets unit – operates in debt capital markets. Buying ABN would give it an equity capital markets capability, according to one banking industry... Read more

Global firms are beefing up their Australian debt restructuring teams as recruitment heats up. While local commercial banks still dominate restructuring recruitment, foreign i-banks are building their teams and should have “real numbers” in 12 to 18 months, says Toby Aikins, a consultant at Jon Michel Executive Search. Goldman Sachs announced plans last month to set up a restructuring group in Sydney, while Morgan Stanley has hired Ben Babcock from... 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

Massive hiring sprees, skyrocketing salaries and crippling talent shortages – just another year in the life of the foreign banks in China. A new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, based on interviews with 42 overseas banks, shows just how colossal recruitment in China has been over the last 12 months. The report highlights a 10,000-strong surge in staff numbers, a figure dominated by Asia-orientated heavy-hitters such as Standard Chartered and HSBC. “The... Read more

Banking jobs down under are looking increasingly attractive to both Americans and expat Aussies. But taking overseas experience to Australia doesn’t mean you can shift to a sexier job function. Grant Lovett, head of fixed income at UBS and a recent returnee himself, explains: “You can’t come back and say ‘I was a good credit trader overseas and now I want to try something completely different.’ The quality of people... Read more

Aussie banks are growing in India but they’re not taking too much talent from Down Under with them. Macquarie Bank is expanding its retail and structured products divisions, a sign of where it sees potential for growth. The four majors are divided between disinterest (Commonwealth and NAB) and active plans (Westpac and ANZ). “From a property and infrastructure perspective, India is massive and its retail potential is simply incredible,” says... Read more

Morgan Stanley bankers who were hoping John Mack would take pity on them again this year are due to be disappointed. And Asia is no safe haven from the global carnage. Last December Mack raided the coffers to stump up a 5% increase in average compensation for 2007 over 2006, but he now appears to have decided his people can do without. Whereas the average Morgan Stanley banker had accrued... Read more