eFinancialCareers

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

Australia hasn’t lived up to its promise for ANZ’s ex-group managing director, Steve Targett. How common is it for immigrant bankers to come unstuck? In the case of Targett, the stakes are high and getting higher. Last month, he upped his damages claim from AU$2.1m to a hefty AU$57m, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review. Targett, a former banker with Lloyds TSB, claims he left his well-paid job... Read more

It’s created grim consequences for many bankers, but ironically the credit squeeze is proving a boon for quality credit analysts, says a Sydney-based recruiter. Patrick Everest, partner at Jon Michel Executive Search, says credit risk professionals are now in higher demand than at any time over the last 12 to 18 months. “Both the institutional teams at the domestic banks as well as the global investment banks are looking for talent,”... 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

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

Don’t look now: there are some signs that the US sub-prime mortgage malaise has spread to the Australian market for financial services jobs. Private equity firms and corporate advisers were hit hard with a 9% fall in job advertisements during September, according to the Olivier Internet Job Index. The index also showed ads on the Internet for banking jobs fell by 10.5% in September. Report author Bob Olivier, a director at the Olivier... Read more

Collapsing stock markets and tightening credit are bad news for most investment bankers. Restructuring specialists are the exception. If, as looks increasingly likely, the US economy lurches into recession, one senior economist warns that it’s only a matter of time before local defaults start to hot up. Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital Investors, says, “I would expect that if the US goes into recession... 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 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

The fallout from the US sub-prime mortgage débâcle continues to be felt, with news of redundancies of up to 1,500 employees at Europe’s biggest bank, UBS. Adding to concerns, this announcement was closely followed by the sacking of two senior US executives at Merrill Lynch. The sackings have sent shock waves through the industry. However one City-based headhunter says it may be premature for those in Australia’s finance industry to hit the... Read more

A Sydney-based headhunter warns the chief reason employers are missing out on premium i-banking talent is their own tardiness. Dudley Levell, director of financial services IT recruitment specialist Finrecruit, reports, “There is plenty of competition for high quality talent in Sydney and some employers are missing good candidates because they are slow to provide feedback on interviews or CVs.” If banks want to snare the right employee, they need to go about... Read more

A fresh round of private equity deals in Australia signals relatively healthy employment prospects in the private equity sector locally. Two recent buyouts – the purchase of Coates Hire by American private equity firm Carlyle Group, and the snaring of DCA Agedcare Group by a UK-based healthcare provider – show there is still plenty of life in the private equity sector. Victoria Biggs, a consultant at Sydney-based Jon Michelle Executive Recruitment, confirms... Read more

With the Hang Seng breaking through 30,000 for the first time this month, now’s a good time for Aussie bankers to break into Asia. Andrew Valentine, from recruiter Jon Michel Executive Search, says, “Unemployment is low and regional GDP growth is outpacing the rest of the world, so demand for investment banking services and for skilled investment bankers is likely to continue.” “The advantage for Australian bankers is exposure to larger and... 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

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

Black Tuesday saw panic selling wipe over AU$100bn off share prices. Will oscillating equity markets feed demand for strategists to help make sense of the ride? The events of 22 January 2008 are sure to leave a mark on the Aussie share market. Though it recovered towards the end of that week, it has since deteriorated again. What will happen next? It’s down to strategists to predict. Adnan Kucukalic, strategist for... 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

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