More risk management jobs are opening up in Singapore as banks hire staff to tackle a growing range of risks and an ever-changing regulatory burden.
As a result, risk professionals in the city state are often able to move banks with comparative ease – and pick up large pay rises.
But if you work in the function, how do you know whether your Singapore risk salary is still competitive?
We’ve averaged out Singapore salary surveys from six recruitment agencies across credit, market and operational risk to produce the table below, which shows base pay from analyst to director level.
If you want to work in the function that currently pays the most at all seniority levels and which offers the best prospects of future salary rises, try market risk.
Pay increases for candidates moving banks in Singapore average between 10% and 15% in credit and operational risk, while in market risk you can expect 15% or above, say recruiters.
“There’s a smaller talent pool and there’s high demand for market risk professionals with experience of the Volcker Rule, OTC derivatives reforms, and Basel implementation,” says Lynne Roeder, managing director of recruitment firm Hays in Singapore.
Within credit risk, professionals with credit-approval authority or experience are “highly valued” by banks in Singapore, says Roeder.
“So are those with experience in running the full credit cycle, from putting up credit papers through to post-approval monitoring,” she says. “And there’s been a recent spike in demand for credit risk candidates in specialised areas like marine, shipping and aviation finance, which has put more upward pressure on pay.”
Roeder adds: “Banks in Singapore are also starting to group their operational risk and compliance functions together, particularly at the senior level. So ops risk candidates with hybrid skill sets in compliance, or in areas such as project management and change management, are becoming more sought after.”
Technology risk is a key area of emerging demand within risk management, says Orelia Chan, senior manager of legal, compliance, audit and risk at recruiters Robert Walters in Singapore. Banks have increased their hiring since the Monetary Authority of Singapore revised its Technology Risk Management Guidelines in November last year.
Singapore’s status as a wealth management hub means much of the current risk hiring is into private banks, adds Chan.
Most analyst and associates working in risk in Singapore receive bonuses of 12.5% to 15% of salary, while VPs get 16% to 30%. At director level risk bonuses range between 30% and 50%.
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