Welcome to the Robert Walters’ specialist market update, designed to provide you with an insight
into the very latest recruitment market and salary trends across the financial services sector.
In the first half of 2010, we witnessed the positive effects resulting from the upturn in the global
economy. There was a noticeable spike in hiring volumes in quarter one, which flattened out
towards the middle of the year. The uncertainty created by the European debt crisis has meant
that companies are currently being cautious in expanding over aggressively. However, positive
sentiment in Asia has been a strong factor in not seeing any evidence of a slow-down in hiring
as we move into the second half of the year.
Matthew Bennett
Managing Director
T: +852 2103 5300
FRONT OFFICE
E: matthew.bennett@robertwalters.com.hk
FRONT OFFICE
Transaction Banking
Recruitment activity in the transaction banking space started on a positive note in 2010
as market sentiment improved significantly and the economy continued to recover.
We have seen a marked upturn in the numbers of professionals willing to explore new
job opportunities and ultimately change jobs. We also observed rounds of “musical
chairs” in the transaction banking space as banks started actively recruiting and
poaching talent from their competitors.
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We anticipate a constant demand for qualified risk candidates for the remainder
of 2010 and believe salary levels will continue to increase. As we approach the
second half of this year, we would expect sign-on and guaranteed bonuses to
be more commonplace to entice candidates to change jobs.
FINANCE OPERATIONS AND PROJECTS
Strong business growth in the first half of the year led to an increase in the
number of operations roles, mainly for experienced professionals with equities
background and process knowledge, with operational costs remaining a key
consideration for most financial institutions. With efficiency being the focus,
project management professionals were in high demand to enable rollouts
and integration work within certain organisations.
Demand for professionals with sound operations and project skill sets is likely to
be sustained for the second half of 2010 due to existing investments in certain
key projects. As a consequence of uncertainty from the European debt crisis,
we do however envisage a lower volume of hires in the operations space for the
second half of the year.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The IT job market in Hong Kong remained highly active and IT professionals
On the back of the recovery seen in the continued to be in demand across the banking and financial services sector.
first half of 2010, we observed an increase
We saw a high demand for candidates with good financial industry knowledge
in the demand of experienced finance
and a strong technical banking background. There continued to be a shortage of
professionals. There were several
IT candidates in the market and we started to see more intense competition for
senior hires made in the product control
top talent. High calibre candidates with the required skill sets tended to receive
space as well as at CFO level. Trading
multiple job offers and experienced buybacks and big counter offers from their
activity in equities increased, leading to
current employers in a bid to retain them.
a corresponding increase in demand for
finance individuals with related product As trade volumes increased in the first half of 2010, there was an increase in
skill sets. demand for support staff, particularly in the Market Data and FIX areas. Due
to the talent shortage in Hong Kong, financial institutions started sourcing
However, with the onset of the European candidates from overseas in order to meet demands from the business.
sovereign debt crisis, recruitment in this However, in instances where there were cost concerns, hiring local candidates with
space is likely to slow in the second half strong potential and then offering them appropriate training & development was often
of the year. Some finance teams have considered.
already announced a headcount freeze
as a result of filling all their budgeted Although the recruitment market has not shown any signs of slowing down in the
positions in the first half of the year. latter half of the year it is expected that many companies will put incremental
hires on hold, unless business-critical.
LEGAL
In the first half of the year, we witnessed varied levels of recruitment activity
and demand for certain areas of legal expertise.
Prior to Easter, both employers and candidates started showing more interest in
the market, although they remained highly cautious and many were not ready
to make firm commitments. A high proportion of candidates were waiting for
salary reviews and bonuses to be paid before re-assessing their career options.
Investment banks and financial institutions bolstered their teams and hiring
was predominantly in areas such as equity/credit derivatives, funds, wealth
management and capital markets from two to eight years’ PQE. We also saw
continued demand for ISDA negotiators, particularly candidates with NAFMII
experience, with some institutions offering not only permanent but also long term
contracting opportunities due to increasing work load. Most notably, due
to the growing importance and influence of China’s economy, language skill
sets have become a more essential requirement for hiring, in particular fluency
in Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
There were also some senior level vacancies in general corporate M&A in
some of the major investment banks. Most institutions were able to capitalise on
strong talent from the private practice market, as candidates were willing
to move to broader and more challenging in-house roles rather than working on
pure IPO projects.
We also witnessed many strong candidates in the market receiving multiple offers
from different institutions, and being counter-offered from existing employers in
an attempt to retain them. This resulted in extreme frustration
in some cases between companies competing for the same candidates
in the market – as many were facing tight restrictions on budgets. With
a limited pool of local candidates, many employers also began to look for talent
internationally, especially in the areas of derivatives and capital markets. Some
of these overseas based candidates were offered minimum relocation packages
which included flights, freight allowance and at least
one month’s temporary accommodation.
Headcount increases were highest during the first quarter, with the second
quarter more skewed towards replacement hires. Areas of particular growth were
corporate communications and events, teams which were most significantly
affected and downsized during the recent global recession.
The banking and financial services sector led the demand for strategic sourcing
candidates, with many newly created category-specific regional positions.
Due to the short supply of such skill sets, we saw an increased willingness
from employers to look abroad for suitable talent. In addition, there was an
emergence of roles focusing on risk and vendor management as sourcing
departments continued to evolve into more specialised units.
CONTRACT RECRUITMENT
Demand for contractors remained steady in the first half of 2010. Many assignments
were being offered on a contract-to-permanent basis, whereby firms with complex
permanent hiring processes used a contract offer to allow new joiners to commence
work whilst permanent headcount approval was taking place.
On the supply side, many candidates who would have considered contracting in
2009 have observed the increase in permanent roles and are now no longer open
to contracting. As such, the pool of skilled professionals willing to take on contract
assignments has significantly reduced. Having said that, the unstable economic
outlook in Europe is prompting a number of Hong Kong citizens working abroad
to return home, and many of these professionals have a preference for contract-
based assignments due to the popularity of contracting in markets such as London
and Paris. This trend is having a positive impact on the Hong Kong contract market
as these returning candidates help replenish the local talent pool with new skills.
Moving forward to the second half of 2010, we anticipate that demand for contract
resources will continue as many firms once again start imposing permanent
headcount restrictions.
SALARY SURVEY BANKING & FINANCE
FRONT OFFICE
TRANSACTION BANKING
permanent salary per annum
RISK MANAGEMENT
permanent salary per annum
Market Risk
Management/ Modelling $400 - 600k $600k - 1.1m $1.4 - 1.4m
Controlling/ Reporting $360 - 500k $500 - 850k $800 - 1.1m+
Credit Risk
Investment/ Corporate Banking $400 - 650k $650k - 1.1m $1.1 - 1.4m
Investment/ Wealth Management $360 - 550k $550 - 900k $900 - 1.2m
Consumer Banking Operations $240 - 500k $500 - 750k $750 - 950k
Permanent Salary
Role per annum $HK
In-house
7 yrs’ PQE $970k - 1.3m+
5 yrs’ PQE $880k - 1.1m+
3 yrs’ PQE $770 - 950k
SALES & MARKETING CONTACT US
Permanent Salary Christina Ng, Manager
Role per annum $HK Financial Services
Product Development Director (10+yrs exp) $1.30m+ T: +852 2103 5320
Head of Events (10+ yrs’ exp) $1.15m+ E: christina.ng@robertwalters.com.hk
Media Relations Director (10+ yrs’ exp) $1.15m+
Internal Communications Director (10+ yrs’ exp) $1.02m+ TY Lee, Manager
Front office division
T: +852 2103 5328
E: tzeyong.lee@robertwalters.com.hk
SUPPLY CHAIN, LOGISTICS & PROCUREMENT
Genevieve Wong, Manager
Permanent Salary
Role per annum $HK
Human Resources
& Business Support division
VP Procurement (10+ yrs’ exp) $1.2 - 1.7m
T: +852 2103 5330
VP Real Estate/ Leasing (8+ yrs’ exp) $1.0 - 1.3m
E: genevieve.wong@robertwalters.com.hk
AVP Procurement (6+ yrs’ exp) $700k - 1.0m
NB: Figures are basic salaries exclusive of benefits/ bonuses unless otherwise specified. Nicole Lui, Manager
Information Technology division
Sales & Marketing division
T: +852 2103 5344
LATEST ROBERT WALTERS UPDATES E: nicole.lui@robertwalters.com.hk
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