In part I of a two-part series, we look at the functions within financial services where you are least likely to get fired.

Compliance

Challenging business conditions over the last year have fuelled demand for compliance professional, says Tulika Tripathi, Singapore managing director, Michael Page International. “This jobs market will continue to grow over the coming year as governments impose tighter regulations on the financial services sector. The banks will recruit compliance professionals who understand the newly introduced regulations.”

This “watchdog” function is now a well paid and secure job, according to Craig Brewer, manager, banking and financial services at Hudson Singapore. “Compliance professionals are finding themselves in one of the few areas that has not been significantly affected by job losses. Talking to directors and heads of compliance so far this year, the message is clear: this is one of the busiest times for compliance and it looks like it will stay this way for some time,” he adds.

Market risk

There has been an increase in demand for market risk candidates within financial and consulting firms, says James Carss, director of banking and financial services at Hudson Hong Kong. “The demand for talent in market risk is not only restricted to candidates that are based in Hong Kong. Candidates that have worked in North America or the UK have greater exposure to structured financial products. Such knowledge and experience are highly valued, especially in the advisory and consulting business.”

Project-based finance roles

Carss comments: “Project positions, like finance system implementation roles, are still in demand, both permanent and contract (more than one-year tenure). Despite the economic downturn, a lot of financial institutions still have different types of finance transformation programmes in place to streamline their reporting process.”

Finance professions with a good understanding of accounting principles and reporting processes, and who have project and system-implementation experience, are the most sough after. “Within the present economic environment, some roles have changed from permanent to contract term, but those skill sets and experience are still highly valued in the market,” adds Carss.

Regulatory accountants

Pan Zaixian, manager, financial services division, Robert Walters Singapore, explains their importance: “With the authorities keeping a close eye on the financials and capital ratios of banks, those who are responsible for central bank and capital reporting should be well occupied making sure that the numbers they are submitting upwards are accurate.”

Back office: settlements etc

Critical functions in the back office include Nostro reconciliations, settlements, exception reporting, and confirmations, says Brewer. “Non-critical roles, such as client service and trader support, have suffered the most as they are considered ‘nice-to-have’ in a good market. However, trades still need to be reconciled and confirmed, even in a bad market.”

Debt restructuring

Banks will need to carry out more back-end credit-related work such as recovery, insolvency advice and debt restructuring, says Pan. “Just like in the Asian Financial Crisis, which spawned a number of debt professionals (some firms call them the ‘intensive care units’), this area will flourish towards the tail end of the current crisis as workout specialists restructure and repackage debt for refinancing, or for sale in the secondary markets.”

Application developers

Some banks have multiple IT platforms which require costly time-consuming reconciliations, according to Pan. “Banks will try to make use of this market-lull time to invest in technology, especially in the areas of developing applications that will allow them to better track the trades and risks in as real time as possible. This will also decrease reliance on expensive back-room staff performing work that technology can otherwise resolve.”

Corporate banking RMs

Relationship managers are the key contact points between banks and their clients. “Hence, they play an important role in managing client relationships as well as to continue to bring in revenues for the banks. They know what relevant products to sell to the clients and to exit any unhealthy relationships,” explains Lee Tze Yong, manager, banking division, Robert Walters Hong Kong.

More “safe” jobs to follow later this week…