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

Flushed with the excitement of being back in the black, second in European equity research, and the leading equities trader on the LSE, it looks distinctly as if Nomura is paying up in London in order to consolidate its position in fixed income. Recent weeks have seen a spate of big name hires, each of which is likely to have necessitated generous buyouts. Firstly, there were Steve Ashley and Chris Fleming ,... Read more

If you’ve been out of the market for a little while, either on gardening leave, voluntary abstention from work, or as a result of redundancy, you may be a little rusty when it comes to remembering how things work in an investment bank. Here are six things to get you back on track: 1) Find... ...the toilets, the canteen and the exit, probably in that order. Then work out where all the... 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

When business is bad, banks in Western countries tend to wield their axes with abandon. Not so the J-banks. Take Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. When it announced in late March plans to close 50 branches and cut 1,000 jobs, it didn’t go pink-slip crazy, it chose to make the cuts through attrition over the next three years. For cultural and legal reasons it may have been difficult to do anything but... Read more

Bloomberg reported recently that Citigroup has started to shed staff at its investment banking unit, Nikko Citigroup. According to the report, at least 10% of Nikko Citigroup’s 1,600 staff will face the axe, with 16 positions already cut from the unit’s equity research department. Nikko Citigroup spokesperson Naomi Watanabe declined to comment on the cutbacks, but did say the company was “always looking for ways to make our organization more efficient... 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

Foreign financial firms fired some 4,300 staff in Japan in the 15 months through March, according to Bloomberg. But hold back your tears: the Financial Times is reporting that lots of those deemed surplus to requirements are getting handed their pink slips along with bumper severance payouts. Near the top of the list of generous axe-wielders is ING, who was offering employees 15 to 20 months’ severance pay last month in... Read more

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch is getting bullish about hiring in Asia. Jayanti Bajpai, co-head of global corporate and investment banking for the firm in Asia-Pacific, recently told the Financial Times that the bank had turned a corner and was looking forward to expanding its regional operations, while adding that sentiment among clients and potential recruits was becoming increasingly positive. Merrill has hired over 100 new employees in the region over... Read more

A job at a J-bank might no longer mean a job for life as Japan’s banks turn to western-style contracts. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Kenichi Watanabe, Nomura’s chief executive, revealed that more than half of the firm’s 1,600 investment banking staff in Japan had agreed to contracts that would cut their basic pay and make them easier to sack, in exchange for potentially higher performance-related bonuses.... Read more

The Swiss are bucking the trend. While foreign firms like HSBC have been moving certain functions away from Japan, Credit Suisse has just launched a new private banking operation in Tokyo. The firm's new services are being provided through its banking entity, Credit Suisse Tokyo Branch, and its securities entity, Credit Suisse Securities, and are aimed at wealthy individuals, families and corporations with more than one billion yen in financial assets. The... Read more

Japanese bankers, a risk-averse bunch at the best of times, are becoming even more cautious about moving jobs as the clouds of recession gather over the country. Pessimism about financial markets and the general economy is making them reluctant to jump ship. “These days people are thinking in greater detail before they consider a new job, not just about the money, but about what it will mean for their... Read more

The message from Tokyo’s recruiters is simple: now is not a good time to be looking for an IT job in finance. Bruce Lepore at Talent2 says current IT hiring levels are significantly lower than 12 months ago, with banks only hiring for IT positions that are “mission critical”. Shannon Pascoe of The Specialized Group says IT roles have been in a slump since the effects of sub-prime hit in... Read more