It is as if last year’s horrors in the investment banking sector never happened.
In Hong Kong, banks that avoided the worst of the credit crunch, including Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered, are on a hiring spree.
Even Royal Bank of Scotland, which is now 70 per cent owned by the British government and is dismantling its high street banking business in Asia, is searching for new investment bankers in Hong Kong and on the mainland.
After retrenching in China last year, the global banks have decided that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the mainland economy will remain buoyant for years to come.
They are hiring in response to global money managers’ enthusiasm for shares in Chinese companies. Since January, foreign investors have been piling cash into China because they reckon the region’s businesses will grow fast while economic recovery in the West will be sluggish.
“In the West, there is probably going to be a long period of slow growth. Against this backdrop, faster-growing Chinese companies are attractive,” said Anthony Bolton, the highly respected investments president at fund manager Fidelity International.
Barclays is hunting for stock-market traders and bankers who can advise companies raising money via Hong Kong initial public offerings.
“We have expanded and are expanding our investment banking sector coverage teams,” said Robert Morrice, Barclays’ Asia-Pacific chief executive. “And we are adding specifically to support the build-out of the equities business, adding people in trading and sales.”
RBS, which has just scooped US$550 million selling its high street businesses in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore to Australia’s ANZ, wants to build up its minute investment banking business on the mainland.
RBS has approached several high-profile Chinese bankers about joining the new team, according to two sources briefed on the plans.
A source familiar with Morgan Stanley’s hiring plans said the Wall Street bank was hiring selectively across the board in Hong Kong.
Morgan Stanley is searching for mid-level bankers to add weight to its equity capital markets team, which advises companies on initial public offerings and share placements. The bank is also searching for financiers to join its team advising mining companies on deals.
Hedge funds, many of whom retrenched from Hong Kong and the mainland last year, are also hiring again.
But not all these organisations will find it easy to get new staff. According to Bob Huthart, the Hong Kong-based managing director of investment banking headhunter Huthart, many bankers are leaving their jobs voluntarily after becoming disillusioned with their industry and the role it played in last year’s economic meltdown.
“The banks are all short-handed and business is good in Asia for them, but the workload has been heavy and we anticipate that many will leave the business and look for a career with a more balanced lifestyle,” he said.
“There is a high level of disillusionment with banking and finance since the recession. So we will see even more demand from banks to replace people.”
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Banks go on a hiring spree in HK, mainland
Outlook for region spurs expansion
Naomi Rovnick
07 September 2009
It is as if last year’s horrors in the investment banking sector never happened.
In Hong Kong, banks that avoided the worst of the credit crunch, including Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered, are on a hiring spree.
Even Royal Bank of Scotland, which is now 70 per cent owned by the British government and is dismantling its high street banking business in Asia, is searching for new investment bankers in Hong Kong and on the mainland.
After retrenching in China last year, the global banks have decided that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the mainland economy will remain buoyant for years to come.
They are hiring in response to global money managers’ enthusiasm for shares in Chinese companies. Since January, foreign investors have been piling cash into China because they reckon the region’s businesses will grow fast while economic recovery in the West will be sluggish.
“In the West, there is probably going to be a long period of slow growth. Against this backdrop, faster-growing Chinese companies are attractive,” said Anthony Bolton, the highly respected investments president at fund manager Fidelity International.
Barclays is hunting for stock-market traders and bankers who can advise companies raising money via Hong Kong initial public offerings.
“We have expanded and are expanding our investment banking sector coverage teams,” said Robert Morrice, Barclays’ Asia-Pacific chief executive. “And we are adding specifically to support the build-out of the equities business, adding people in trading and sales.”
RBS, which has just scooped US$550 million selling its high street businesses in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore to Australia’s ANZ, wants to build up its minute investment banking business on the mainland.
RBS has approached several high-profile Chinese bankers about joining the new team, according to two sources briefed on the plans.
A source familiar with Morgan Stanley’s hiring plans said the Wall Street bank was hiring selectively across the board in Hong Kong.
Morgan Stanley is searching for mid-level bankers to add weight to its equity capital markets team, which advises companies on initial public offerings and share placements. The bank is also searching for financiers to join its team advising mining companies on deals.
Hedge funds, many of whom retrenched from Hong Kong and the mainland last year, are also hiring again.
But not all these organisations will find it easy to get new staff. According to Bob Huthart, the Hong Kong-based managing director of investment banking headhunter Huthart, many bankers are leaving their jobs voluntarily after becoming disillusioned with their industry and the role it played in last year’s economic meltdown.
“The banks are all short-handed and business is good in Asia for them, but the workload has been heavy and we anticipate that many will leave the business and look for a career with a more balanced lifestyle,” he said.
“There is a high level of disillusionment with banking and finance since the recession. So we will see even more demand from banks to replace people.”
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