International banks in Asia may be preparing for the (comparatively) busy hiring period after Chinese New Year, but right now vacancies – especially front-office ones – are thin on the ground.
If you want to steal a march on rival candidates by applying for a front-office job in January, however, you do have a few options in Hong Kong and Singapore.
We’ve searched through the Asian careers websites of global banks to find out what’s already on offer this year.
1. Goldman Sachs: securities, FICC and commodities macro sales
Have you just completed your graduate training? This is a rare opportunity to move to a junior sales job at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong (you’ll need just one to two years’ experience in commodities). The role involves client interaction (“quoting prices and executing trades with clients in a range of commodity products”) and generating trade ideas. But you’ll also take on more mundane tasks such as working with operations on post-trade processes.
2. J.P. Morgan: investment banking associate
Investment banking vacancies in Singapore are almost non-existent – and not just because it’s January. In 2016, first-nine-month IB revenue for Southeast Asia hit its lowest level since 2005. Competition for this role will therefore be extremely high. J.P. Morgan is keeping its options open here: you could be working as an “M&A, ECM or industry specialist”, or as a corporate finance generalist. Unusually for a Singapore-based position, fluency in Mandarin is essential, suggesting some China coverage may be involved.
3. Credit Suisse: director/team leader, China/Hong Kong/Taiwan market
Credit Suisse plans to hire about 150 private bankers in Asia by the end of next year as part of CEO Tidjane Thiam’s drive to capture more market share from the region’s millionaires and billionaires. Not only is this job one of 150 itself, you’ll also be tasked with growing your team “by hiring and developing talents”. You’ll have at least 10 years’ experience, the last three of which should be in a leadership position. But this Hong-Kong based role is not purely managerial – you must also bring over a big book of your own wealthy clients.
4. UBS: equities salesperson
Banks from Barclays to Standard Chartered took the axe to Asian equity jobs last year, so this UBS vacancy in Hong Kong should have no shortage of applicants. Although the job description doesn’t mention a specific rank, this appears to be a senior role. It demands “extensive experience in the sales function and strong knowledge of local regulations” and it reports directly to the head of Hong Kong/China equities sales.
5. Societe Generale: index flow trader
This is a senior Hong Kong-based role in Asia Ex-Japan index options trading. It involves developing SocGen’s client base, providing quotations to customers, creating new trading strategies and giving product support to junior staff. You’ll also need to “define IT specifications of new strategic developments for risk monitoring, position management, decisional tools and trading automatons”. Not minimum years of experience is listed, but there’s a requirement for “specific technical knowledge about equity derivatives products and strategies”.
6. Bank of America: senior analyst/associate, FICC sales
This is your chance to get in on the ground floor as BAML “builds up” its FICC solutions business in Asia. Typical transactions in this job include secured funding, capital relief and derivatives optimisation. To begin with you’ll work on “module-based presentations and client databases”, but the role will eventually “shift towards client conversations, term-sheet negotiations, internal discussions and transaction execution”. FICC experience does not appear to be essential to this Hong Kong job: “the necessary technical skills can be taught to the candidate by the MD”.
7. HSBC: vice president, corporate banking
HSBC isn’t flush with front-office roles right now – it has none on offer in either capital markets or investment banking in either Hong Kong or Singapore, for example. This corporate banking job in Hong Kong is an expectation. It requires managerial experience and fluency in English and Cantonese (and preferably Mandarin). Unsurprisingly, you’ll need to “develop new customer relationships to build and strengthen your portfolio”. And you’ll service clients across industries, so this isn’t a position for a sector specialist.
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