AU
The Big Four banks are stepping up their campaign to lure top talent away from foreign firms. And this year the international i-banks need to fight back if they are to benefit from Australia’s economic recovery.
Of course only a select number of professionals will be of interest to both the domestics and the IBs, with institutional equities at the top of the crossover list.
“I’m sure there will be a battle for talent in this sector. This recovery seems to be a sustainable one, so as demand for equities people increases this year, there is bound to be a skill shortage,” says Warren Price, managing director of Select Personnel.
The question of where to work (foreign or local) is no longer so simple as it once was. “Five to 10 years ago, the Australian banks just couldn’t compete for the best talent with an overseas badge, but that’s not necessarily the case now,” adds Price.
Just look at CBA’s recent recruitment for its institutional equities team. New head of research Mark Storey came from Credit Suisse, while Ben Zucker, who will lead the firm’s research unit for financial institutions, is formerly of Macquarie (OK, so Mac’s not exactly foreign, but it’s a bone fide i-bank).
CBA has also named Andrew Hines (from Morgan Stanley) as head of resources research and Digby Gilmor (from Citi) as head of telecommunications and media research.
What is luring quality equities candidates like these to a Big Four bank? A certain percentage will always move mainly for the money, comments one Sydney headhunter, who asked not to be named.
“However, stability is now a more important factor in the employment market than before the GFC. Some people will now choose a domestic, rather than the likes of UBS, because they don’t have to be constantly worried about the performance of the bank overseas,” he adds.
But in Australia, the banking employment buffet is spiced up by the fact that global firms are generally performing well in the local market, even if they are suffering abroad. And some firms – like Barclays Capital, a returnee to Aussie equities this year – don’t really have tarnished international brands for the Big Four to pray upon.
“At the end of the day, most candidates will be convinced by the personal satisfaction that they think they’ll get in a job. Can the potential new employer offer them satisfying deals to work on?,” says Price.
It appears to me that far more could be done with the Australian resource market. Most of the major IPO firms are reluctant to commit capital to what is an amazing growth opportunity. With greater potential than the Tech Boom of the nineties.