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Singapore remains a vibrant market for financial professionals seeking to move onwards and upwards.
“The hiring market remains strong,” says David Webbe, head of financial services for southeast Asia at Korn Ferry International. “Market volatility over the last 12 months has made hirers a little more cautious, but there are still key drivers that mean banks will continue to hire in southeast Asia.”
One of those drivers is location. Singapore is a coverage hub for southeast Asian emerging economies, particularly Indonesia, whose economy has not looked this vibrant for a decade, but also Malaysia, Thailand and even India. The growth of these economies creates clear opportunity for the banks and accountants that service them, and for qualified staff.
“The most significant issue facing southeast Asia hiring today is a relatively tight talent pool,” says Webbe. “If you are trying to make impactful hiring there is still a lot of competition for the best people – and from the search industry perspective, pressure to source the best people.”
Banking headhunters report widespread demand: investment banking, particularly M&A; global markets; private equity; commodities; and in sector terms, coverage for metals and mining, oil and gas, and consumer.
This time last year private banking was the area of greatest demand, and it’s still resilient. “Private banking will remain a growth area because you have an increasing number of high net worth and ultra high net worth people in southeast Asia,” says Webbe, while the arrival of European-based private banks in greater force – Julius Baer being a prime example – has also created demand. “But I think a lesson learned over the last few years is that the experienced private banking professionals make the biggest impact rather than out-of-the-box hires. This has only increased pressure on the existing talent pool.”
In accounting, the latest annual survey for Hong Kong and Singapore financial services recruitment from consultancy Ambition reports particular demand at the junior and middle management level, “rather than at the senior level where hires have been more strategic and lower in volume.” Ambition found accountancy hiring to be strongest in IT&T organizations, as well as offshore oil and gas, services, and healthcare or biotech businesses. “Skill shortages exist for candidates with excellent technical accounting knowledge and equally candidates with genuine business partnering experience.” Ambition also noted demand in tax and treasury. “Treasury and cash management continue to be a key focus for a number of businesses where healthy cash flow is critical. High caliber treasury candidates are notoriously difficult to find.” The global financial crisis has also increased focus on audit, risk and compliance.
Professionals can expect to be well paid. “Compensation packages remain competitive,” says Webbe. “The best bankers are paid more or less in line with the pay they’ve seen in good years before.” It is easier to negotiate a good package if you are multilingual. “Language skills are still very strongly sought after. The talent pool in Asia is tight; even tighter are highly capable bankers who are fluent in Mandarin or Bahasa.”
Outside banking, the Ambition survey found that a head of audit with 12-15 years experience could expect an annual salary in the range S$180,000-$350,000; a group or regional CFO $250,000 to $500,000; and a head of tax, $180,000-$350,000.
A senior investment banker, a well-established managing director running a sector or coverage for southeast Asia, would probably be getting total compensation of around US$1.5 million. “But there is a real spread on what bankers get paid,” says one headhunter. “$1.5 million is for a mid-ranking MD, not a superstar, but a solid producer. A regional business head based here would probably be looking at about $3 million or thereabouts.” Mid-ranking bankers below the MD level are likely on around $500,000 to $750,000 per year, and entry level of associates at investment banks is around $125,000, with bonuses which might add $25-50,000 on top of that depending on how good the year is.
“Singapore is not the most highly paid area for investment bankers: Hong Kong is much more highly paid, driven by China primarily,” says one headhunter. He says 2010 bonuses were typically down 10-20% on the previous year. “We’re still a long way down from 07 in most cases. But nobody’s starving on the back of those numbers. Lots of people are earning $750,000 to $1 million a year, which for normal people in the real world, is a lot of money.”
