The year of the Tiger is opening with a roar when it comes to recruiting in Asia's financial hubs as foreign firms look to make their mark in both established and emerging industry centers.
As the Asia-Pacific region has recovered faster from the global financial crisis than the U.S. or E.U., many finance firms grew anxious to expand their presence in the region in the second half of last year. Recruitment picked back up in established markets like Hong Kong and Singapore, and emerging finance hubs in China are quickly becoming a choice destination for overseas finance firms looking for new revenue streams.
Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays PLC, wants to be atop the i-banking league tables in Asia. It said in November that it had hired 150 bankers in Asia last year and planned to add 100 more to bolster its equity capital markets teams in Hong Kong.
Nomura, Japan's biggest brokerage firm, which had scooped up most of Lehman Brothers' European and Asian businesses, said in January it wants to strengthen its presence across the Far East. Deutsche Bank CEO Joseph Ackermann echoed the same sentiment when the bank reported fourth-quarter earnings earlier this month. And Bank of America Merrill Lynch, finally headed toward a rebound from its 2009 troubles, also plans to regain its stature in Asia.
"Bank of America Merrill Lynch has significant hiring plans in Asia Pacific across all lines of business, continuing our strategic expansion in the region since the middle of 2009," said Kim James, head of the bank's recruitment division in Asia. The firm will continue to recruit managing directors and directors to fatten its staff across the region, she added.
Here's a look at some of the hiring activity in Asia:
1. Hong Kong: Given its British colonial roots and long-established position as a financial center, Hong Kong is a more foreign-friendly destination than the rising hubs in mainland China. Mandarin skills are not as necessary for finance pros and its regulatory landscape is easier to navigate.
Perhaps the biggest tip of the hat to the rise of Asia was HSBC's decision to relocate its chief executive from London to Hong Kong, the bank's birthplace.
"West is coming east, and we want to be at the gate into China and be in China itself, and the most logical place to work on that strategy is Hong Kong," said CEO Michael Geoghegan in September. He told reporters in Hong Kong the move will allow the bank "to be faster on our feet" in the region.
Asian hedge funds account for only a $117 billion slice of the global total of $1.480 trillion, according to data provider Eurekahedge. But the small hedge-fund industry in Asia is poised to get more crowded this year as a growing cast of elite hedge funds sets up shop in Hong Kong. The Soros Fund reportedly hired senior executives to establish an office in the financial center. London-based GLG Partners, one of Europe's largest alternative asset managers, is setting up a research office in HK and an additional branch in Beijing.
The growing class of high-net-worth individuals in Asia puts wealth managers in demand. Standard Chartered, the British-based bank with deep roots in Asia, said it will hire 500 employees for its wealth management business in Hong Kong. Not to be outdone, HSBC plans to add 100 relationship managers to its office there this year.
2. Singapore: Southeast Asia's answer to Hong Kong, Singapore is ripe with opportunities for foreign finance firms. Corporate growth in the surrounding emerging markets portends an increase in investment banking and M&A activity. Other reasons that make the city-state an attractive base for overseas finance firms: English and clean streets.
Last week, New York-based investment-banking firm Jefferies announced that it will move one of its senior executives to Singapore to head emerging-markets sales and trading in Asia. In addition, the firm hired two fixed-income pros to the team roster.
Melbourne-based ANZ said last year it will add 200 staff to its Singapore headcount over the next nine months and reportedly has been poaching corporate-banking pros from rivals. The bank is integrating the wealth and commercial business operations of the Royal Bank of Scotland it purchased in August, folding in the 660 RBS personnel into the estimated 700 workers it already employs in Singapore.
3. Shanghai: This year may finally be the one when China's largest center of commerce and finance rises to global financial prominence. Over the past few years, the Chinese government has invested money and energy to mold the city into the mainland equivalent of Hong Kong. The city ranked 10th in last September's Global Financial Centres Index Survey, a biannual report from the City of London and research outfit Z/Yen Group, jumping 25 spots from the previous survey six months earlier. More telling perhaps is that the city was identified as the No. 1 financial center likely to become more significant, the survey reported.
"There is a stronger demand in Shanghai than in Hong Kong or Singapore, but the challenge is sourcing the right people," said Brodie McDougall, regional manager for China in Shanghai at global recruiting firm Michael Page International.
In Shanghai, the firm has seen a 12% increase in demand for front-office personnel and a 17% increase for back-office roles in the second half of 2009 over the first half of the year.
IPO activity has been robust in Shanghai, and finance firms want in. The city was home to the No. 2 IPO in 2009, the $7.34 billion offering by China State Construction Engineering Corp., just behind the $7.52 billion IPO of Banco Santander Brasil SA. But the promising underwriting business in China is open to foreign firms only by way of joint ventures that are partly Chinese-owned, a requirement that comes with a tangle of regulatory restrictions.
As the city develops its finance industry, firms are looking for people to help navigate the complex and harsh regulatory structure, placing a high demand for back-office personnel with expertise in compliance, according to McDougall. Just as important is hiring front-office staff to sell products and build relationships. For now, there is a severe talent shortage, he said.
"Ninety-percent of the time, the difficulty is finding the right people who know the local market and the challenge of conducting business here," said McDougall.
To standout to hiring managers and recruiters, it is vital that candidates have ample local experience, so they can hit the ground running with a Rolodex full of contacts and knowledge of the latest regulatory changes.
"What we're hearing from companies is they want to hire middle-management-level professionals to get a really good infrastructure in place," said McDougall.
4. Shenzhen: Only a stone's throw from Hong Kong, this southern Chinese city is poised to become a dominant player in finance. The Global Financial Centres Index Survey ranked the city as the financial center most likely where new offices will open and the second most likely to become more significant, behind Shanghai.
Shenzhen has entered into a number of business partnerships to promote greater economic integration with Hong Kong, precipitating the development of its financial-services industry. Improvements to transportation and increases in trade and real-estate development have prompted Hong Kong firms to set up satellite offices there or have employees commute between cities.
Write to Yoree Koh