Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Hong Kong Investment Banking Salaries Overtake London

Average base pay for investment banking and hedge fund staff in Hong Kong has shot up by 15 per cent this year overtaking salary hikes in London

Such generous rises highlight the two-speed global economy in 2011 as Asia powered ahead while Europe and the US teetered close to recession.

Analysts in Hong Kong have seen 20 per cent base pay increases while those at “managing director” level have seen raises averaging 25 per cent. Average base pay for investment banking and fund management staff now stands at HK$890,000 (about £74,000).

Equivalent staff in London saw rises of 12 per cent.

Mark O’Reilly, managing director of recruitment firm Astbury Marsden which carried out the research, said: “Investment banking teams operating in Hong Kong have performed more strongly than their counterparts in London and New York in 2011. Generally banks are keener to invest in their teams in Asia than in Europe and the US and that has meant a bigger boost for Hong Kong bankers’ base pay.”

But next year is expected to be tougher as Western banks caught up in the eurozone debt crisis take a more cautious approach to their Asian expansion.

Mr O’Reilly added: “Most of these pay rises will have been agreed earlier this year, when confidence in the banking recovery was strongest, and banks were eager to retain and recruit staff in order to be best-positioned for the expected growth. More recently pay increases have been rarer and more modest.”

Last month John McCormick, RBS chairman for Asia-Pacific, warned that bonuses for investment bankers may be in danger of being clawed bank if the unit performs poorly.

Some banks are actually paring back their Asian headcounts, despite strong growth in the region. HSBC is wielding the biggest axe – cutting 3,000 staff over the next three years in Hong Kong.

Findings from Hong Kong-based headhunters Morgan McKinley show that 35 per cent of financial services firms plan to reduce their headcount within the next six to 12 months.

Another group that has prospered this year are compliance staff. As Hong Kong has expanded its range of financial products the need for greater compliance to monitor these new products has also grown.

Staff working in compliance teams reported pay rises averaging 21 per cent of their salaries. This was more generous than the average 11 per cent pay rises enjoyed by their counterparts in London over the same period.

Article source: The Telegraph, 21 December 2011

Investment Banking Salary 

Thursday, December 15, 2011

2011 Top Ten Financial Markets

Want to work in one of the world's top ten financial markets? You may want to check out this news in yesterday's China Daily: HK most developed market

Hong Kong overtakes US, UK and Singapore to take top spot.

Hong Kong has overtaken the US, the UK and Singapore to top the world's most developed financial markets, the first time an Asian financial center has achieved this rank, according to the latest study of the World Economic Forum.

The city has been the world's hottest IPO market for the past two years, with funds raised amounting to HK$449 billion in 2010. And Hong Kong ranked second after the New York Stock Exchange for IPO fundraising in the first half of this year, with HK$182.2 billion raised during the period.

Want to meet challenges, execute your financial skills and of course make big money, consider working in Hong Kong.

Click here to view the full article.

Investment Banking Resumes - Hong Kong most developed market