eFinancialCareers

UOB is still busy hiring in the PRC as it continues to expand its franchise across the country, but the search for banking talent in Chinese cities is not without challenges. Chua Tian Chu, executive vice president for UOB in China, tells us: “We currently have over 300 staff in UOB (China), and will grow our headcount as we expand our network and product offerings.” In preparation 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

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

Ultra high net worth (UHNW) clients are far from ordinary individuals. They typically have at least US$20m – and often more – in liquid assets to invest and are at the pinnacle of private wealth operations. Many banks are still looking for specialist private bankers to service them. Recruitment of UHNW bankers in Singapore has been driven by the rapid growth of individual and family wealth across Asia, says... Read more

Get out your Java handbook. Australian retail banks are going to upgrade their IT systems and plan to spend billions doing it. But not all the jobs created will be in Australia. Firms will be jostling for candidates for hundreds of positions. National Australia Bank, which expects its upgrade to cost AU$1bn, is talking 600 new jobs. It will be sending some of its technology platforms and systems off shore,... Read more

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) is set to slash 600 jobs but recruitment and salaries in the insurance sector are still staying strong at a senior level. The Sydney-based firm also reported its first loss in six years and says it will sell its floundering UK business (Melbourne Age). Grant Williams, of Reynolds Stockbrokers, explains: “They’ve had a fairly big exposure to the equities market…Apart from problems with their UK operations, they’ve also... Read more

Australia’s private equity scene has taken a breather over recent months, in line with global financial markets. Likewise, the private equity jobs scene is also having a quiet spell at the moment, according to recruiters, with the biggest activity on the cards likely to be from private equity firms shedding staff, rather than hiring. But it seems that even if some staff are lost from the big firms, there’s still enough... Read more

Carlyle Group is expanding in Australia with the appointment of ex-ANZ banker David Balint as director of leveraged finance. The US-based private equity firm will now have two dedicated teams Down Under – buyout and leveraged finance – with eight executives based in its Sydney office. According to Balint, this is just the start of a determined push by Carlyle in the region. “The leveraged finance team sees... 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