Insights & News
Asia Market Insight
The market for compliance and internal audit was very active throughout 2015. Most banks have substantially built out these functions over the last several years. In 2016, the key theme will be targeted hiring rather than volume recruitment, especially across the Banking sector. Demand for compliance and internal audit professionals will continue to drive salary increments of 18% or more. On the risk and finance side, recruitment will be steady and similar to 2015.
Banking Sector:
Similar to 2015, demand remains high for experienced professionals across Internal Audit, Compliance, Financial Crime Compliance and KYC.
Within Financial Crime Compliance (FCC), we will see a reduction in the volume of hiring in 2016 compared to the last few years. The banks have established large FCC teams and the focus for 2016 will be continuing to streamline this area and hiring replacement headcount. Many firms will continue to offshore positions to low-cost locations where regulations in the country allow for this, and it provides substantial savings to the business. It will remain a competitive market in the areas of AML Advisory, MLRO’s, Sanctions, Intelligence and Anti-Bribery & Corruption.
For compliance, demand has remained high across Central Compliance, Advisory, Regulatory Compliance and Surveillance & Monitoring. In 2016, some Banks will continue to grow their Compliance Testing teams, which will further impact the level of talent in the market for Internal Auditors. We expect the amount of people changing employers in 2016 to be similar to the prior year which means it’s critical that firms are doing everything to retain existing talent.
For several years, Banks have expanded their Internal Audit functions. In 2016, we will not see the same level of newly created positions, but the level of recruitment will still be high with individuals changing employers. The focus remains on recruiting people with strong knowledge of a particular product line or corporate function. It’s expected that the shortage of talent in Singapore and Hong Kong will continue.
The level of recruitment for risk positions will be similar to last year. Operational Risk positions will be one of the areas most in demand, and we will continue to see recruitment across Credit and Market Risk.
The market continues to remain flat for senior finance professionals. People who are in senior roles are not moving due to the lack of opportunities across the Singapore and Hong Kong markets.
There are opportunities at the mid and junior levels with most of these being replacement headcount.
Asset Management Sector:
Demand remains high for compliance professionals across the Business and Investment Compliance areas. During 2015, some mid-size firms have split compliance into business and investment teams. We continue to see people wanting to move from Investment Compliance into a broader Business Compliance position making it harder for firms to backfill these positions.
There are limited finance opportunities in the Asset Management sector for experienced professionals. There has been some replacement hiring across the mid to junior levels.
Insurance Sector:
Demand for compliance across the Insurance industry remains high. With the introduction of the Independent Insurance Authority (IIA) for Hong Kong, we expect to see an increase in hiring of compliance talent in 2016.
The recruitment of Internal Auditors within the Insurance sector also remains competitive. People with a strong skill set in actuarial, or investigation are the most sought after.
Even with the market volatility that we have seen in the second half of 2015 and into 2016, it will continue to be a competitive market for experienced professionals across compliance and internal audit.
If you require any specific market information or salary advice, please feel free to contact us.
