JP Morgan or Stan Chart: which is the better employer?

In the battle to become Asia’s best bank, J.P Morgan and Standard Chartered are emerging from the rubble as clear favourites.

But which firm would you rather work for? The global powerhouse or the Asian champion?

J.P.Morgan recently topped The Banker magazine’s annual list of the strongest 1,000 international banks, moving up from fourth place a year earlier.

The rankings, which have run since the 1970s, are based on capital strength, or the amount of Tier 1 capital held. J.P.Morgan was helped by its takeover of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual.

Standard Chartered, unlike British rivals RBS and Lloyds, hasn’t needed a government bailout, and raised US$1.8bn from investors last year to increase capital and increase its buffer against bad loans.

And although its workforce is 2,500 people lighter than late last year, it is hiring again in Singapore and Hong Kong. Recent results show that these two centres performed particularly well for Stan Chart’s wholesale banking unit.

Which bank is performing better in your mind? And which is the best place to build your career? Let us know below.

Comments (27)
  1. Stan Chart is great, if you want your whole career to be in Asia. JPM gives you better opportunities to work in Western markets. So it depends where you see yourself in the future.

  2. As a grad or junior, i’d still say, given the choice, you should go for JP Morgan. It’s still better know and better respected across the globe and will open up more doors for you. forget best in asia, it’s the best in the world now that the other giants have fallen

  3. in Singapore, you probably have more of a shot at landing a Sc job – you can’t be fussy in the current environment….most people just won’t have a choice between banks. If u do, count yourself very luck and say yes to jp morgan – it’s bigger & better

  4. SC better than JP? you have to be joking. it’s like comparing a Fiat to a Ferrari

  5. It will be JP for me cos the platform is totally different.

  6. JPM would be the way to go. SCB was not able to capitalise during the last crisis and as a result its competitors regained market share with ease – looks like history will be repeating itself again!

  7. I will definitely chose JPM rather than SC, even though SC has acquired Cazenove Asia.

  8. muz be joking to say SC better than JP? with such lousy mgt in SC, the bank is not going anywhere!

  9. There is no comparison between JPM and SCB. JPM is miles ahead.

  10. SCB? oh, no…much more office politics

  11. Fore me, its JP Morgan. So far it played its cards right by acquiring battered firms that up to now, do not cause much of a problem for the bank unlike other banks’ acquisitions.

    I guess management at J.P.Morgan has foresight. Just curious though, how many graduates does the bank takes in for Singapore operations?

  12. JPM probably. no one has touched the aspect of pay so let me tell an interesting story. we had a JPM guy come in for an interview (i’m at a local bank) cos the there were some aspects that he was not happy about. this person had only 1 year’s work experience in TOTAL.

    when my HOD interviewed this person, the pay that was asked for was MORE than my HOD because that was his equivalent one in JPM!!!

    how’s that for feeling crappy if you were my HOD?!?!

    obviously, we couldn’t afford this person…

  13. yeah, SC wins it anyday. After all, where else can I get the pleasure of having to kiss (a***) someone at office, have an excellent social life (watching my colleagues) and be heard (someone’s always overhearing what I say).

  14. HAHA STANCHART IS BETTER , more opportunities, excellent training. nice friendly people, stimulating environment. having worked in both places I can vouch that Stanchart is wayyy better.

  15. JPM of course. SCB pale in comparison. For fresh grad, one learn way more in JPM, or hardly anything, maybe corporate management / office politics,in SCB. Wonder why there are so many media coverage on how “good” SCB is. Maybe its PR is working harder than the others.

  16. Well, this debate is certainly stirring you up! How about writing an anonymous monthly blog about life inside your bank?

    eFinancialCareers is looking for financial professionals to write these anonymous columns – providing honest, opinionated perspectives on employment, job hunting and careers.

    We already run several of these articles on our Singapore website. For examples, please see:

    http://news.efinancialcareers.sg/Blogs_ITEM/newsItemId-18797
    http://news.efinancialcareers.sg/Guest_ITEM/newsItemId-18070
    http://news.efinancialcareers.sg/Guest_ITEM/newsItemId-19684

    If you think you can do the same, please email: apac.editor@efinancialcareers.com

    Thanks,
    Simon Mortlock
    Editor

  17. My boss always claim that SCB is an International Investment Bank and mind you, we would have bought over Goldman at the height of the financial crisis.
    I feel so great working with these international leaders day in day out.
    have a great friday afternoon and hope u knock off on time today. cheers :)

  18. SCB is better if you want to make a lot of money without working. If you want a professional rewarding career, this is not the place to be.
    At SC, no one cares whether you show up at work or not, whether you do your work or not. At the peak of the crisis, the bank made million dollar offers to ppl who had lost jobs in the other banks. And still it lags competition and is no where to be seen on league tables!

  19. SC is very local bank mentality and lacks the dynamism .JP is diversified in terms of culture and environment. Most local bosses in SC do not manage as well and that is why they always hire a foregin national to head the team or dept

  20. I have previously worked for SCB. I agree with a comment earlier that SCB is a Fiat compared to JPM a Ferrari. Even in Asia JPM is held in a higher esteem in a different league compared to SCB.

  21. Speaking from a graduate perspective, I think starting a career with SC as a graduate is more stable than the blood-boiling analyst programme at JP. Morgan. I personally know many 07 graduates, who managed to get into Bulge Bracket banks, got fired this year. If you want stability and all-rounded banking exposure, SC is the way!

  22. In SC, it’s not about work nor performance, it’s about office politics! JP on the other hand, in general, only performer survives. So, SC is for politics player, JP is for survivor.

  23. Agree that SC is just about how well you play politics. You do not need to work and still get good bonus, promotions (yes even in this financial crisis time)! Work hard & not play politics will land you with bad performance ratings (excuse is world financial crisis so too bad!) and eventually made redundant!

  24. From HR in SC :”redundancy package is case by case basis!” No standard policy in place, depends on management whims & fancies at that time. Also from SC HR :”If any questions, ask others!” including asking staff to check internet. Well I supposed with CEO Peter Sands announcement to the UK press that there is ‘NO LAY OFFS!”, no one knows how to retrench the many people that they have retrenched!

  25. SCB is pretty c**p….lot of politics and managers are incompetent when it comes to actual financial knowledge…its a pretty mediocre bank…

  26. If you chose SCB over JPM you’re looking for trouble. JPM is far better for your career

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