While graduate-level hiring at investments banks in Singapore continues apace, falling deal revenues are making more experienced bankers call recruiters about exit opportunities.
Interns at US and European investment banks in Singapore have been told that next year’s graduate intake will be about the same size as this year’s, according to several current summer interns we spoke with this week. This is despite Southeast Asian investment banking suffering its worst period for six years.
Revenues from investment banking in the region dropped 14% to $621m as of mid-August, according to new figures from Dealogic. “Slowing economies have led to the scrapping of several initial public offerings, a drought in mergers and acquisitions and a plunge in local currencies that has discouraged investors from buying stock and bonds issued locally,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
However, the regional investment banking slump, is affecting the sentiment of seasoned bankers according to recruiters. Christina Ng, executive director at LMA Recruitment in Singapore says in the wake of the revenue slowdown she is fielding an increasing number of calls from mid to senior-level bankers in Singapore wanting to leave for the buy-side, or just leave the finance industry altogether.
“Grads and juniors are always excited about getting a foothold in the banking sector and tend not to get put off – it’s the experienced guys who question their commitment when things take a turn for the worse,” says another banking recruiter.
Meanwhile:
Career highlights of Hong Kong’s white collar crime fighter Mark Steward. (South China Morning Post)
UBS and HSBC in Asian prime brokerage hiring drive. (Financial News)
Why China beats Hong Kong and Singapore in fintech. (Asian Investor)
More from Matt Levine’s book on rich young bankers in Hong Kong. (Business Insider)
Assets managed in Singapore jumped 30% in 2014. (Straits Times)
J.P. Morgan to mine employees’ emails for patterns. (Business Insider)
Deutsche bank weighs biggest overhaul for more than a decade. (Bloomberg)
Standard Chartered PE arm invests in China’s online lender Dianrong.com. (Reuters)
Standard Chartered must raise up to US$10bn, says Mizuho. (Business Times)
Singaporeans queue for hours for new SG50 banknotes. (Channel News Asia)
Related articles:
Meet the most outrageously demanding job seekers in Asian bankingThe job market in Singapore and Hong Kong may still be comparatively buoyant, but these candidates pushed their luck too far.
The hottest programming languages in Singapore and Hong KongThe skills you need to succeed in banking IT in Asia are changing. We reveal the programming languages with the largest skill shortages.
The most desirable finance jobs in Singapore and Hong Kong nowThe amount of candidates clamouring to work in these finance job sectors makes them the most competitive to find work in regionally.