eFinancialCareers

As the sun sets on Lehman Brothers in Australia, the bankrupt firm is locked in talks with recruiters in a bid to secure positions for its soon-to-be-redundant staff. “It wants to put employees in touch with a select group of executive search companies to help them find their next job,” says one headhunter who asked not to be named. Lehman’s 130-odd Aussie employees will need all the help they can... Read more

ABN AMRO Australia is about to disappear into the mothership, Royal Bank of Scotland, with an accompanying and immediate purge of management. Royal Bank of Scotland has announced it will buy the remaining equity in ABN AMRO's local unit and that Stephen Williams, RBS Australia's managing director, will run the combined ABN and RBS business. Angus James, head of ABN Australia and New Zealand, will step down. Will this... Read more

Its CEO and chairman are gone, its share price has hit a new low, and it’s battling for its very survival. But the news is not all bad for the embattled staff of Babcock & Brown – the international banks are keen to take on B&B refugees who jump ship or get laid off. Recruiter John Coles, chief executive of Executive Group International, says Babcock employees are hot commodities.... 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

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

Times are getting tougher for bankers, with jobs growth in the finance sector slumping 3.1% since May 2007, according to latest instalment of the monthly Olivier Job Index. Report author Bob Olivier says it’s even worse in i-banking, where job ads are down 9.7% on an annualised basis. “The transactions aren’t happening like last year,” explains Olivier. “IPO activity is also down." Despite the dim jobs outlook for bankers,... Read more

Searching for your M&A dream job on the back of the Aussie mergers boom? You could be in for a long wait. Bucking an international slump, US$59.6bn of M&A deals targeting Australian companies were announced for the first five months of 2008 – up 38% on the same period last year, according to Thomson Reuters. But this hasn’t created a jobs bonanza for M&A bankers. The employment market is... Read more

At a time when financial jobs are being axed around the world, Dubai is still proving to be a recruitment oasis for those willing to work in the Middle East. The lure of high-paid, tax-free work is proving attractive for many Australian bankers, who are moving into an array of senior roles in investment banking. Advertised jobs are offering packages upwards of US$100k tax-free, including roles for researchers, finance directors,... Read more

Macquarie is breathing some life into a generally dormant Japanese financial recruitment market. The Aussie bank, which took on 100 new hires in the second half of last year, is continuing its recruitment drive. Andrew Low, Asia head of Macquarie Capital Advisers, comments: “Japan is becoming an increasing focus and we are pleased to be able to attract senior people to match the quality of the opportunities we are... Read more

The overall Asian M&A jobs market has cooled down, but financial sector mergers are generating work for financial institutions group (FIG) bankers with expertise in the sector. While fewer corporate IPOs are taking place, Asian insurance companies and commercial banks are still looking for new acquisitions, says Matthew Phillips, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ financial services and M&A practice in China. This is generating M&A work for the investment banks and professional... Read more