eFinancialCareers

While firms in the Boston area are proving resilient in the face of market turmoil, unfortunately for job seekers, they're not entirely immune. The future of the Merrill Lynch operations in the area is uncertain once the firm is acquired by Bank of America. State Street Corp. is under pressure, as indicated by a plummeting share price. And Fidelity Investments says parents are saving less money for college because of the... Read more

Yes, the incarnation of Wall Street that people have known since the 1980s no longer exists. Thousands of jobs are in danger, even after Congress extended a $700 billion lifeline to the industry. At the same time, some companies see chaos as an opportunity to add people they might not have been able to get otherwise. Whatever happens in coming months, job applicants will face challenges standing out from the crowd.... Read more

Buoyed by the strong Canadian dollar, Canadian banks are on the hunt for acquisitions in the U.S. Royal Bank of Canada, the country's largest bank, reportedly held acquisition talks with Lehman Brothers Holdings a few months before Lehman sought bankruptcy protection. In April, shares of Bank of Nova Scotia tumbled after The Wall Street Journal reported it was considering a bid for Cleveland-based National City. Earlier this year, TD Ameritrade... Read more

Boston draws job seekers from outside the region, even in times of economic uncertainty. Many of the people who want to move to the region already have ties to it and seek to return to where they went to college or grew up. On top of that, the perception is New England financial firms are weathering the current turmoil better than their counterparts on Wall Street. Further adding to the area's appeal... Read more

Getting hired by a hedge fund has never been easy. Now, it's getting even more difficult as laid off Wall Streeters flock to the sector because of its reputation as a more stable place to work. In Boston, hiring continues at a brisk pace for jobs ranging from portfolio managers to entry-level positions. Salaries remain strong, and quant roles remain difficult to fill. "Every investment banker on Wall Street and in... Read more

The days of Canadian financial services firms going on hiring binges are long gone, but unlike in the U.S., major layoffs aren't looming. Officials at the Investment Industry Association of Canada expect firms to continue hiring this year, though not as robustly as they have in the past, says Executive Director Ian C.W. Russell. Many companies are also reluctant to let go employees, especially those who've received a large investment... Read more

State Street Corp. and Fidelity Investments, two of the biggest financial employers in Boston, are continuing to hire even as their counterparts in Wall Street lay off tens of thousands. Although statements by the two companies may offer some optimism for job hunters worried about how the economy is impacting New England financial firms, area companies aren't hiring at the rates they did during the recent boom market. The non-profit New... Read more

Canadians working in the securities industry don't want their work to be their life, or their life to be their work - even at a time when employers are trying to do more with less. Twenty six percent of CFOs recently polled by Accountemps said heavy workloads were the greatest source of work-related concerns for finance and accounting professionals in Canada. Work/life balance ranked second in the survey of 270 finance... Read more

Talk is heating up that State Street Corp. is planning to move some of its workforce to the Boston suburbs. The Boston Business Journal reports the giant custodial bank is considering occupying as much as 800,000 square feet of office space outside the city, and may build a suburban campus. Among the possible locations is Westwood Station, a $1.5 billion development being constructed in Westwood that will include retail space, three... Read more

Newly appointed Chief Executive Robert L. Reynolds appears to have big plans for Putnam Investments. That may mean good news for job seekers. The former Fidelity Investments executive has outlined an ambitious agenda to boost the fortunes of Boston-based Putnam, which is trying to stem the tide of investor redemptions. Reynolds plans to add new products and bolster his research staff, according to media reports. The Boston Globe quotes him as... Read more

The latest quarter was one that many Canadian banks would rather forget. That may make them less eager to hire. After reporting a loss of C$1.1 billion, or C$3 a share, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announced plans to lay off 100 people from its CIBC World Markets. Other big banks, though they didn't announce any cuts, also had dismal results: Profit at Royal Bank, Canada's No. 1 lender, slumped 27... Read more

Boston-area investment firms aren't hurting for resumes. Thousands of bankers laid off from Wall Street firms are eager to make a change to areas of financial services that appear to be weathering the economic downturn, such as private equity, venture capital or hedge funds. Moreover, people living in New York - especially those with ties to New England - are willing to relocate to Boston, making the job market there... Read more

The ranks of Charter Financial Analysts in Canada are growing. More than 9,990 are registered to take the CFA exam in June, up 68 percent from 5,914 in 2006. Bob Johnson, deputy chief executive of the non-profit CFA Institute, says that's a sign of growing interest in the certification by employers, and the greater availability of training at colleges. Moreover, Johnson says, the number of candidates taking the exam for the... Read more

Fidelity Investments continues to "aggressively" recruit talent for Pyramis Global Advisors, its institutional asset management division. A statement from the world's largest mutual fund company underscores how the financial services industry in the Boston area appears to be holding up better than Wall Street firms, which are reeling from the meltdown in the sub-prime mortgage market. "Pyramis has been hiring aggressively and continues to do so," says Scott Beyerl, a Fidelity... Read more

First the good news for accountants: There are plenty of jobs out there. Now the bad news: Some recruiters say salaries are rising at a slower rate than they have in previous years. Candidates with backgrounds in taxation, auditing and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are commanding premium salaries even as companies grapple with a slowing economy, according to Toronto-based recruiters. Having the designation of Chartered Accountant is an advantage for... Read more

Though portfolio managers and analysts get most of the attention, the companies they work for couldn't function without the people behind the scenes. In Boston, there's a strong demand for professionals to fill these jobs. Finding candidates, though, isn't always easy. They require specialized sets of skills such as international tax and accounting, notes Alex Cook, head of the asset management practice at Conley & Co. in Boston. "Trying to find... Read more

Demand for financial advisors is expected to be brisk even as the growth in the overall Canadian job market slows. The need for professionals to help people with their financial and retirement planning is outstripping the supply of candidates. Positions are opening up because of the retirement of Baby Boomers and the general labor shortage, according to Advocis, the Financial Advisors Association of Canada. "Banks are hiring aggressively," says Taylor Train, an... Read more

Campus recruiting in Boston doesn't appear to be dramatically impacted by the economy's recent turmoil. Activity has been holding steady at MIT's Sloan School of Management, where the number of company presentations is down less than 1 percent, the school says. In fact, the April 15 Career Fair there was oversubscribed, attracting about 22 companies instead of the 15 that were expected, according to Jackie Wilbur, director of the school's career... Read more

Uncertain times lie ahead for Boston's private equity companies. The main players in the city's private equity industry, Bain Capital and Thomas H Lee Partners, have filed lawsuits against six banks to force the financing of their $19.5 billion acquisition of Clear Channel Communications. Earlier this year, Bain's $2.2 billion buyout of 3Com Corp. aroused concern about national security in Congress, leading Bain to pull the plug on the offer it... Read more

Canada's economy is showing signs of weakening, which may give financial professionals pause. On March 21, the Canadian dollar had its biggest drop since 1985 amid concerns that a slowing U.S. economy would reduce demand for commodities, says Bloomberg News. "We might see further weakness in the Canadian dollar if commodities continue to lose ground," Scotia Capital's Camilla Sutton told the news service. In addition, Canada's strong dollar has made Canadian... Read more