Several firms are hiring remisiers to gear up for a market turnaround
By Yang Huiwen 9 March 2009
Of all the professions in demand at the moment, you would think that stockbrokers would be pretty far down the list but not so at local brokerages.
Several firms are in hiring mode for remisiers, keen to sign on fresh talent so they can be geared up for a market turnaround - whenever that might be.
An advertisement placed by CIMB-GK Securities received an overwhelming 300 applicants with 40 eventually taken on and a new recruiting round is about to kick off.
‘We’re definitely in an expansion drive’ as part of plans to scale up retail services, said CIMB-GK’s chief executive, Ms. Carol Fong. The brokerage plans to add about 100 more staff to its base of 300 remisiers and dealers.
Remisiers are an ageing group, she said. ‘If you look at customer profiles, investors are getting younger, so we should be refreshing the sales force to capture that segment of the market.’
The share crash has not deterred brokerages from stepping up recruitment of brokers and remisiers. Other brokerages, including Phillip Futures, Kim Eng Securities, Lim & Tan Securities, UOB Kay Hian and Westcomb Financial Group, are also recruiting.
They are all looking beyond the downturn and seeking to expand their services, despite retrenchments happening across various industries. ‘Despite the economic situation, there are still opportunities for interested traders and thus the need to boost our team of brokers to maintain the service level for our clients,’ said Ms. Grace Chan, Phillip Futures’ associate director of marketing and sales channels.
The firm has been consistently expanding its team of brokers over the years. ‘There have been more people joining us in this role rather than leaving the company,’ she said.
Phillip Futures has more than doubled the pool of brokers, or ‘account executives’ as they are known, over the past two years, expanding from about 20 to a headcount of almost 50. It plans to further expand the team to more than 60 by the end of this year, said Ms. Chan.
Kim Eng, which has about 400 remisiers and dealers, plans to ‘continue increasing its pool of remisiers and dealers’. It declined to provide specific numbers.
The number of trading representatives, as they are known, has grown by an average of 3 per cent over the last three years, to a total of 3,707 at the end of last year, according to the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The SGX last month organised a four-hour recruitment seminar in a bid to lure more people into the industry. The event attracted over 300 participants.
Mr. Andrew Ler, SGX senior vice-president and head, private investors, said ‘the industry needs to continue to enlarge its professional sales and advisory force to cater to investors’ needs’ as new products are being introduced, such as the Extended Settlement contracts and new exchange-traded funds.
Individual brokerages train new recruits to help them get to grips with the various products and systems. ‘New brokers will probably come with new ideas and will be more receptive to new products,’ said Mr. Albert Fong, president of the Society of Remisiers. ‘New clients brought in by them are unlikely to be hit badly by the current global financial crisis.’
He added that they are likely to tap on their own network of friends, even former colleagues, to find new clients out of the reach of the older remisiers.
In this bearish market, the average take-home pay is about $2,000 a month, though top performers could get much more, said Mr. Fong. A remisier’s income, which is based on commission, depends very much on his volume of business and the type of clientele base.
And these days, they have to go beyond just facilitating transactions. Being at the frontline, ‘remisiers are the ‘eyes and ears’ of the market place and are in a better position to guide clients’ investment decisions’, said Mr. Fong. They often have to undertake multiple roles and responsibilities, including shouldering outstanding bad debts of clients arising from bad trades and contra losses, for example.
He also cautioned: ‘Earnings are cyclical and remisiers need to save during booming good times for rainy days to ensure long-term survival in the profession.’
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Brokerages expanding
Several firms are hiring remisiers to gear up for a market turnaround
By Yang Huiwen
9 March 2009
Of all the professions in demand at the moment, you would think that stockbrokers would be pretty far down the list but not so at local brokerages.
Several firms are in hiring mode for remisiers, keen to sign on fresh talent so they can be geared up for a market turnaround - whenever that might be.
An advertisement placed by CIMB-GK Securities received an overwhelming 300 applicants with 40 eventually taken on and a new recruiting round is about to kick off.
‘We’re definitely in an expansion drive’ as part of plans to scale up retail services, said CIMB-GK’s chief executive, Ms. Carol Fong. The brokerage plans to add about 100 more staff to its base of 300 remisiers and dealers.
Remisiers are an ageing group, she said. ‘If you look at customer profiles, investors are getting younger, so we should be refreshing the sales force to capture that segment of the market.’
The share crash has not deterred brokerages from stepping up recruitment of brokers and remisiers. Other brokerages, including Phillip Futures, Kim Eng Securities, Lim & Tan Securities, UOB Kay Hian and Westcomb Financial Group, are also recruiting.
They are all looking beyond the downturn and seeking to expand their services, despite retrenchments happening across various industries. ‘Despite the economic situation, there are still opportunities for interested traders and thus the need to boost our team of brokers to maintain the service level for our clients,’ said Ms. Grace Chan, Phillip Futures’ associate director of marketing and sales channels.
The firm has been consistently expanding its team of brokers over the years. ‘There have been more people joining us in this role rather than leaving the company,’ she said.
Phillip Futures has more than doubled the pool of brokers, or ‘account executives’ as they are known, over the past two years, expanding from about 20 to a headcount of almost 50. It plans to further expand the team to more than 60 by the end of this year, said Ms. Chan.
Kim Eng, which has about 400 remisiers and dealers, plans to ‘continue increasing its pool of remisiers and dealers’. It declined to provide specific numbers.
The number of trading representatives, as they are known, has grown by an average of 3 per cent over the last three years, to a total of 3,707 at the end of last year, according to the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The SGX last month organised a four-hour recruitment seminar in a bid to lure more people into the industry. The event attracted over 300 participants.
Mr. Andrew Ler, SGX senior vice-president and head, private investors, said ‘the industry needs to continue to enlarge its professional sales and advisory force to cater to investors’ needs’ as new products are being introduced, such as the Extended Settlement contracts and new exchange-traded funds.
Individual brokerages train new recruits to help them get to grips with the various products and systems. ‘New brokers will probably come with new ideas and will be more receptive to new products,’ said Mr. Albert Fong, president of the Society of Remisiers. ‘New clients brought in by them are unlikely to be hit badly by the current global financial crisis.’
He added that they are likely to tap on their own network of friends, even former colleagues, to find new clients out of the reach of the older remisiers.
In this bearish market, the average take-home pay is about $2,000 a month, though top performers could get much more, said Mr. Fong. A remisier’s income, which is based on commission, depends very much on his volume of business and the type of clientele base.
And these days, they have to go beyond just facilitating transactions. Being at the frontline, ‘remisiers are the ‘eyes and ears’ of the market place and are in a better position to guide clients’ investment decisions’, said Mr. Fong. They often have to undertake multiple roles and responsibilities, including shouldering outstanding bad debts of clients arising from bad trades and contra losses, for example.
He also cautioned: ‘Earnings are cyclical and remisiers need to save during booming good times for rainy days to ensure long-term survival in the profession.’
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