eFinancialCareers

Rather than hiring brand new staff, expect banks to spend more time reassigning the ones they’ve already got. This, at least, is the verdict of Australia’s biggest M&A hitters. Anthony Sweetman, head of M&A at UBS, which last year ranked first in Thomson Financial’s league of M&A deals, says a “huge” hiring drive for M&A isn’t on the cards in 2008. Instead, Sweetman predicts banks will shift staff into hot areas:... Read more

After months of strength, the Aussie dollar’s leaping like a hooked fish. It could be good news for traders working in the sector. This week saw the Aussie plummet after the Reserve Bank raised rates by a mere 0.25%. Within minutes, FX traders were frantic, and with the market cutting expectations of a May rate rise, the Aussie is now under pressure – or so says Andrew Mitchell, senior FX trader... Read more

Commodities traders look set to be hotly pursued in 2008. It doesn’t help that there aren’t many of them. “If you're a commodities trader, you're likely to get hunted,” says one retail bank’s coy head of commodities trading, who asked to remain anonymous. Demand is ferocious but the talent pool shallow, confirms Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ. What’s making commodity traders so popular? There’s the little issue of oil... Read more

There's more to the Middle East than sovereign wealth funds. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have made headlines in the past few weeks, thanks to the hyperactive investments of their sovereign wealth funds, which have helped several international banks out of a sticky sub-prime situation. But there’s more to the region than state investments. International banks are also present – and hiring. Macquarie opened a Dubai office around two... Read more

There are several advantages to working for Australia’s top investment bank – including the opportunity to take a degree programme run by a world-leading business school. Macquarie Bank has arranged for leading French business school INSEAD to provide a Masters programme for staff in its investment banking business. Ian Woodward, programme director for Macquarie’s new Master in Finance, says it’s something a bit special: “There are plenty of courses [run by other... Read more

Sustainable responsible investment (SRI) is getting hot along with the planet. Shame about the jobs. The latest AMP Capital SRI Median Study says the SRI median outperformed the benchmark ASX 200 index by more than 1.5% over one year, and 2% in the two years to 30 June 2007, returning a healthy 30.2% in one year, 26.7% over three years and 19.3% over five years. Little surprise, therefore, that investors are marginally... Read more

Most would-be bankers in Australia plan to work overseas if they can. This is the finding of a recent survey by graduate research company Universum, who asked Australia's finance graduates what they wanted from a career. They found 47% of women and 51% of men plan to make a swift exit and work overseas. They're also keen on having a life outside work – not something banks are traditionally strong on. 60%... Read more

There are 18 much richer Australians this week, and it’s not down to a lottery win. Goldman Sachs JBWere has promoted18 people to become Australian managing directors (MDs) - nearly doubling the 22 it had. Rumour has it they’ll each be on at least US$1.5m (AU$2.0m). What's going on? Craig Drummond, Chief Operating Officer at Goldman Sachs JBWere Sydney says the appointments "reflect the depth of talent and the significant contribution... Read more

Bankers on Wall Street and in the City of London are expecting bumper bonuses this year. How does the Sydney market compare? Quite well, seems to be the answer. Australia may have a market cap of just US$854bn – 20 times smaller than the US, but our research suggests financial services salaries in the market punch above their weight. According to the office of New York State Comptroller, Alan Hevesi, finance... Read more