Media
Publication: FinanceAsia
Commodities
Jobs Soar
By
media journalist
Despite
the sub-prime mortgage crisis that has led to billions in losses at banks
and securities firms, demand for commodity specialists is still going
strong.
"Goldman and Morgan
Stanley, the biggest commodities houses on Wall Street, are not going to
stop hiring talented traders in Asia anytime soon," observes an energy
trader. The bulge-bracket banks, he says, are even 'ring-fencing' their
natural resources desk from cutbacks, despite slowing US growth and the
worst housing slump in
17 years.
"People with commodity
experience are especially in demand," confirms
Richard Mills, chairman of Singapore-based Chalre Associates Executive
Search.
While some financial
institutions have implemented hiring freezes across
their fixed income departments, recruiters say the war for talent is alive
and well in commodities as rising prices for oil, grains and metals stoke
demand for the likes of commodity traders, analysts and risk managers.
And it isn’t just the banks
that are eager to find skilled commodity professionals. Hedge funds also
want a slice of the trading pie.
"We have been engaged
recently to look for energy traders for hedge funds currently in the region.
These mandates are very new and are the first of their kind in Asia that we
have been asked to do since the Amaranth and Ritchie blow-ups," says
Rick Johannessen, senior vice president (Asia), at Glocap Search.
Compensation has swelled:
bonuses for good commodity traders could easily reach SG$1m.
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Executive Search
& Management Consulting:
Chalre
Associates provides its Executive Search & Management
Consulting services throughout the Asia Pacific region. We are
proactive and well known in our sectors of focus. Regional
Managers use us to help bridge the gap between local environments and
the world-class requirements of multinational corporations.
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