eFinancialCareers

Large US banks like Goldman Sachs and Citi are slowly starting to hire again in Tokyo. After cutting their way through the worst of the financial crisis, they are finally increasing their headcounts. Warwick Pearmund, a consultant at Slate Consulting, says the current need for rebuilding comes as a result of US firms having cut too many staff. “Things are now opening up and most people are hiring; although not in... Read more

Good news for anyone with an interest in hedge funds: hiring is slowly on its way back as funds start to regain their confidence in the market. Yoshiki Kumazawa, a consultant at Morgan McKinley Tokyo, says the impact of the financial crisis caused many Japanese hedge funds to reduce headcount, with some even closing completely, but they are now starting to re-evaluate their resource requirements and invest in talented new hires.... Read more

Forget interview skills and track records, the first hurdle facing Japanese bankers hoping to land a position at a foreign bank is putting together a compelling English CV. Fortunately, Tokyo’s recruiters have a few pointers that might help make the difference between the CV slush pile and getting a foot in the door. Kevin Naylor, team manager of the financial services division at Wall Street Associates, says Japanese candidates sometimes undersell... Read more

Business is good for Nomura. The Financial Times reports that Japan’s largest investment bank expects to return to full-year profitability in the year to March for the first time in three years, largely on the back of strong demand for fundraising in Japan. Now the bank has reportedly earmarked $2.5bn for expansion in the U.S., and in December said that it would be hiring an additional 300 U.S. staff by March... Read more

The world of FX is changing in Japan: hiring for institutional FX roles is on a downward path, online could be on the way up. Samuel Griffiths, associate director of financial services at Robert Walters Japan, says demand for FX professionals has remained quite patchy on the securities side of the business, largely due to the shifting of FX trading into regional hubs like Singapore. “What demand we have seen is... Read more

President Obama wants to transform the world of banking as we know it. His plans — if agreed by Congress — will prevent US banks, or financial institutions that own banks, from investing in, owning or sponsoring a hedge fund or private equity fund. They would also bar proprietary trading. But how much of an impact could that have on financial services hiring in Japan? It could be... Read more

After a mostly grim 2009, demand for candidates to fill IT banking roles in Tokyo has come back with a vengeance. James Kikuchi, associate director of information technology at Robert Walters Japan, says the recovery started in the latter part of 2009, with a surprisingly busy Q4. “That has continued this year. It has been amazing the way the industry has just bounced back, and we expect it to continue,” he... Read more

Like so many sectors in 2009, private banking didn’t have much of a year to write home about. This year might have better things in store. Pete Millett, director of recruitment firm People Services International, says he expects to see hiring levels increase during 2010, predominantly in the lower level private banking services offered by larger foreign and domestic retail banks. And he isn’t the only recruiter who thinks things will slowly... Read more

You couldn’t blame Big Four accountants for starting the new year with a resolution to get a more interesting job. But what are the chances of them landing something in the banking sector in 2010? Hiroyuki Takahashi, a consultant at Hays, says it is fairly easy for accountants to make the transition into banking if they were exposured to financial institutions during their time at the Big Four. However, there are... Read more

Good year Bilingual candidates Being bilingual has always been an asset, but Japan-based bankers who’ve put in the effort to learn another language could well have an even greater edge in 2010. “The talent pool has been reduced by this crisis – as many candidates left Japan – and banks want the maximum bang for their hiring buck during this value-conscious market, so locally-available bilingual candidates should benefit accordingly during 2010,” says Pete... Read more

Good(ish) year Corporate governance Yes, there were redundancies, but with weak corporate governance structures cited as one of the main causes of the financial crisis, it appeared that many companies were wary of laying off too many governance professionals to avoid the ire of shareholders, government regulators and investors. “Lay-offs were not as deep as those found in other areas such as front office or IT, and in fact many of the so-called... Read more

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is planning to more than double its environment-business headcount to step up its activity in clean-energy project financing and the brokerage of carbon-reduction credits. Reporting on the move, Bloomberg says over the next three years Sumitomo will be looking to hire mid-career staff such as accountants, consultants and plant engineers, many of whom will be placed in overseas branch offices. But it’s doubtful Sumitomo’s announcement means we... Read more

Long hours are part and parcel of banking - most of the time. While the financial crisis has seen many people in banking working even longer hours than normal, it appears that some have actually been working less. “Yes, some firms did impose ‘zero-overtime’ or ‘maximum-overtime’ policies during the worst part of this financial crisis,” says Pete Millett, director of recruitment firm People Services International. In other cases, Millett says some... Read more

Good hiring news has been thin on the ground the past 18 months, but that might be about to change. Tokyo’s recruiters say there are some areas where hiring is starting to pick up. Samuel Griffiths, associate director of financial services at Robert Walters Japan, says two hiring trends have emerged across the industry in Q4: 1) firms are rebuilding teams that were heavily restructured earlier in the year; and 2)... Read more

Funds appear to be showing signs of recovery, but is demand for asset managers following suit? Paul Guevara, an equities recruitment consultant at Boyd & Moore Executive Search, says fund performance has improved across the board from the start of the year, but most asset management firms still need to attract new investment before they will be in a position to add large numbers of staff. “With the exception of some junior... Read more

Sumitomo Trust & Banking and French insurer AXA are set to launch a joint property fund that will target office buildings in prime areas of Tokyo. This comes on the back of what the firms say are signs of regained interest among major investors in Japan and abroad in resuming or starting medium to long-term investment in high-end properties in Japan. So, could the new fund be an indication of... Read more

Demand for in-house lawyers has been hit hard by the global economic crisis but could there be hope on the horizon for Tokyo’s swollen ranks of unemployed legal eagles? Matt Anderson, manager of the finance and banking team at Legal Futures, says in the wake of post-Lehman job cuts and hiring freezes, he has never seen such “an amazing pool of unemployed legal talent” across private practice, corporate and financial services.... Read more

Bankers are used to hard work, but could overwork be driving some of them out of the industry? Overwork has always been a reason for some people in banking to look to switch to a different industry or a “less aggressive” firm, according to Kevin Naylor, team manager of the financial services division at Wall Street Associates. But in the current climate, overwork is often coupled with a sense of... Read more

The past month has seen Japanese lenders announce mass job cuts and huge losses: now is definitely not the time to be working in the consumer finance sector. Perhaps suffering the most is Aiful, which last month announced plans to shed some 2,000 jobs – almost half of its regular workforce – on the back of heavy losses. Rival lender Acom, which is backed by MUFG, is also under pressure... Read more

The onset of autumn in Japan can mean only one thing for bankers: it’s time to begin thinking about bonuses. But that is bound to slow down a recruitment market that is only just coming back to life. “Bankers always start to think about bonuses at this time of year and I don’t think this year is any different from that perspective. It does tend to slow the market down because... Read more