eFinancialCareers

The contrasting fortunes of AMP’s fund management and risk businesses are mirrored by the wider recruitment market in these sectors. While AMP’s fund management division reported a fall in earnings, the group’s results were boosted by the strong performance of its risk unit (Money Management). AMP Capital’s chief economist Shane Oliver tells us that the credit crisis, oil price rises and high interest rates created a “perfect storm” for... Read more

Operational risk specialists are commanding higher salaries and tackling more complicated issues as banks focus on increasing the quality of their teams, rather than boosting headcount. The new Market Survey on Risk Management from Jon Michel Executive Search says outsourcing of low-level banking jobs to Asia is creating new challenges for operational risk professionals back in Australia. Mike Ritchie, a risk advisory services partner at KPMG, says outsourcing generates environmental, proximity, language... Read more

If you want a risk job at an Aussie bank, the advice is to get specialist. Generalists are no longer in vogue because Basel II implementation has largely run its course, says Mike Ritchie, a risk advisory services partner at KPMG. He tells us: “The credit crunch has meant that banks have not reduced their teams as they expected to after Basel. There is still a shortage of highly skilled... Read more

The official line out of ANZ at the moment is that it’s conducting an internal review of its securities trading processes and practices, following its involvement in the Opes Prime shares debacle. Unofficially, the bank is known to be wielding the axe internally as it looks to restructure some of its operations and clean out non-performing staff. ANZ Bank’s head of corporate affairs, Paul Edwards, confirmed that four ANZ employees had been... Read more

In risky times, it’s hardly surprising that financial institutions are going to town on risk specialists – particularly counterparty risk analysts who can help them ascertain whether the hedge funds and other clients they’re doing business with are liable to go under. “There has been increased interest but it’s been hard to get really good people in the counterparty space,” confirms Luke Heath, managing director of Chandler Heath. One player said to... Read more

It’s a great time to have risk – someone else’s. Suddenly everyone’s screaming for quant risk specialists. The Robert Walters Salary Survey 2008 says salaries have jumped to AU$135k for quant risk specialists with six plus years' experience, up from AU$120k last year. In fact, anyone working in risk will be at least 10% better off than in 2007. Is demand up? “Absolutely,” says Dean Unkles at recruiter Hamilton... 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

Managers at Babcock are busy informing their minions how much they'll earn in bonuses this year. It should be (very) good news. The investment bank announced last month that its net profit had jumped 58% in the latest year, to AU$407m, and that its bonus pool had risen an impressive 38.5%, to AU$573m. Based on the bank’s 1,435 headcount at the end of December, the average bonus per employee will be AU$400k,... 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

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

In the wake of Société Générale’s €4.8bn trading scandal, risk managers are set to become hot property. SocGen’s crisis has reopened some old wounds in Australia. At NAB's annual shareholders' meeting this month, chairman Michael Chaney was forced to revisit his bank’s AU$360m foreign currency trading scandal of 2002-03 . “When something like the SocGen incident occurs, banks like ours get as much information as they can about the incident from... Read more