Asian Pay Rises Spur Change of Financial Jobs

In front-office roles, candidates are now switching jobs on pay increments of up to 80 per cent, while portfolio manager consultants with one to four years' experience could earn between $110,000 and $165,000 a year, according to a survey by recruitment firm Robert Walters

The boom is not constrained to front-end staff - human resource generalists covering Asia-Pacific for the finance sector can pull in as much as $300,000 a year, while operational risk professionals at the vice-president level can earn some $200,000 a year, the survey said.

It said human resource functions are being taken in-house, while the huge increase in work related to compliance has led more lawyers to seek careers in the finance industry.

It has 'more than proved to be the case' that 'the shortage in supply of good-quality candidates would not let up', said Giles Daubeney, chief operating officer of Robert Walters.

'Several factors are responsible: the financial services industry is as busy as it has ever been, but is also subject to increasingly stringent regulation and corporate activity is very buoyant. In addition, foreign competition is giving candidates more options, especially as they are happy to move location,' he said.