eFinancialCareers

With booming conditions globally, is an MBA still required to get to the top of the pile? Richard Lyons, from executive search firm Carr Lyons, says that MBAs are more valuable at the associate level than at the assistant-director of VP level. At the associate level an MBA from a good university will separate people from the crowd. At the higher end, employers are looking more for solid experience in their... Read more

UBS, Citigroup and HSBC all plan to increase their market share in Australia's wealth management market, which could see some fierce competition for top advisors. UBS appears to be leading the race after poaching at least seven wealth management advisors from Citigroup, according to The Australian. Another two Citigroup advisors have reportedly left to join Macquarie. Simone Mears, director of search firm Profusion, believes that there is strong demand at all... Read more

With strong hiring conditions internationally, now may appear a good time for Australian finance professionals to land a job offshore. But recruiters say the advisability of such a move is a question of timing. Vincent Bailey, from search firm Bailey Executive, says people should be looking to move offshore in their mid to late-twenties and then return in their early thirties. Bailey says investment bankers in particular can benefit from increased... Read more

The number of people planning to leave England has doubled in the past three years, and Australia is high on their list. The number of people planning to leave England has doubled in the past three years, and Australia is high on their list. 13 per cent of Brits surveyed by research company ICM said they wanted to leave “in the near future”, up from 7 per cent in 2003, and a... Read more

With the increasing wealth in Australia comes an increase in demand for advice. Citing data from an eJobs salary survey, MoneyManagement.com reported on 10th August that there had been an 80% increase in the number of jobs related to financial planning in Victoria and Tasmania, during the six months to July 2006. Inequities in the demand and supply of qualified planners are serving to push up salaries in the industry –... Read more

Australia’s established fund management players are losing staff to smaller boutique players. Ratings agency Standard & Poors highlighted the problem in a recent report on the Australian market. As boutiques have proliferated Ben Sheehan, fund analyst at S&P, said established funds have suffered high staff turnover over the past six months as employees defected to smaller rivals. Sarah Elias, a consultant at Ambition Recruitment, says the majority of vacant fund... Read more

Westpac Financial Planning is looking to hire an unspecified number of financial advisers, in anticipation of increased demand for professional advice, reports MoneyManagement.com. Westpac expects demand for their services to increase as a result of the superannuation changes handed down in the 2006 Federal Budget. Alongside technical skills, the company is reportedly in search of people who fit with company’s values of teamwork, integrity, and achievement.

Employees of ABN AMRO’s Australian operations have become part owners of the company. ABN AMRO’s Australian staff are set to buy out 25% of the equity in the local business, according to The Australian. The paper says all staff at the bank have received a share of equity, with each receiving $1,000 of shares per year of service and senior staff having the option to buy more. ABN’s Australian operation is following in... Read more

Merrill Lynch is building up its new Australian prime brokerage businesses, and has drafted in a honcho from New York to make it happen. Finance Asia says John Laws will run a 40-strong team as the head of Merrill’s business division offering its global debt and equities financing platform in Sydney and Melbourne. The business has an equity and fixed income prime brokerage, stock loan, margin lending, structured financing, financial futures and... Read more

National Australia Bank is building up its institutional markets and services division. The bank will spend an extra $10 million this financial year on diversifying resources and adding staff, the Australian Financial Review reports. National Australia Bank's restructuring of its institutional banking division will provide the next leg of growth. The bank is turning its attention to growth and the marketing of new products, and expects the restructuring of its globally focused... Read more

Australian investment bank Macquarie is moving into the big league by paying its senior staff London-style salaries and recruiting homegrown graduates for its UK business. “We are…competing for high quality staff in all of the world’s major financial centres,” the bank’s chairman, David Clarke is reported as saying on Moneymanagement.com.au. “In order to succeed, the bank’s remuneration needs to be broadly in line with that of other investment banks based in... Read more

The Australian job market is crying out for financial planners and paraplanners, with demand up nearly 100% according to some reports. Recruitment specialist eJobs noted 460 advertised roles for Sydney, Regional NSW and ACT in May, an 80% rise on last year, MoneyManagement.com reports. According to eJobs’ report, Australia is also short on candidates. This is bad news for employers, but good news for candidates, who can command higher salaries for their... Read more

Credit Suisse is gearing up in Asian prime services. The Swiss bank has appointed Jupiter Asset Management’s Kevin Meehan as director and head of Asian prime services coverage in Hong Kong, according to Finance Asia. The bank’s Hong Kong prime services team now numbers 10 and further hires are forecast as the bank seeks to grow the business in Hong Kong, as well as in Australia, Singapore and Tokyo.

Private equity firms playing in Australia’s M&A markets may make up a smaller percentage of the whole compared to their UK and US counterparts, but the private equity scene is on a tear and shows no signs of slowing down. Many of the players have raised additional funds recently, with Ironbridge currently set to close a fund with approximately $800m. Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) raised $1.2bn in funds in February of... Read more

Australian IT recruiters report a rush of hiring as investment banks seek to enhance their technology systems. “We’ve seen a marked increase in demand for technologists,” says Sam Vargas, a consultant in the technology division of recruitment firm Robert Walters. “Banks are trying to become a lot more competitive in terms of their trading platforms and are looking to integrate trading and wealth management platforms. Most are adding staff.” Steve Hutchinson,... Read more

An international shortage of financial services talent is creating a brain drain from smaller markets according to one recruiter. “Whenever conditions are strong in Asia, London, or New York, analyst and associate level bankers who are seeking a more international career make the most of the opportunity to move on,” says Victoria Biggs, a consultant at Sydney-based Jon Michel Executive Search. “We are seeing a real exodus at the junior level,”... Read more

A dearth of mid-level professionals amid a general candidate crunch has made Australia even more attractive for northern hemisphere finance professionals seeking more sun, surf and sports. But recruiters say there are some critical factors to consider before you move Down Under. A global candidate shortage has driven the growth of cross-border traffic, with Australia’s talent pool being drained by opportunities offshore in Asia, London and New York. This, combined with... Read more

With a historically low unemployment rate of about 5% in Australia, the financial services sector continues to boom ahead at a great speed. That’s good news for candidates but a tougher market for employers out recruiting as the talent pool is thinner on the ground. According to Angus Price, a partner from search firm Derwent Executive, it’s not just investment banks and fund managers that are actively hiring but also corporates growing... Read more

When it comes to having a few ‘mistruths’ on your resume, or ‘inflating’ your salary to a prospective employer, don’t even let it cross your mind. These days, it is common practice for a company to run a detailed background check on an applicant. In fact, gone are the days when all a company does is contact the referees that the candidate has nominated. Angus Price, a partner from search firm... Read more

Last week South Australian-based Funds SA appointed Hong Kong-based Lloyd George Management to manage an Asia ex-Japan equities mandate worth A$66 million. Launched last December, the Myer Family Office is also a seed investor in Lloyd George’s Asia-ex Japan fund. Moving with the times Not only are mandates leaving our shores - international banks are looking overseas to hire high-quality candidates. “In the past, the UK and the US have been... Read more