FILTH - Failed in London Try Hong Kong. Asking an ambitious banker in London or New York to take a posting in Hong Kong or Singapore has always been a tough sell.
That has been especially true in the leveraged finance business, where bankers needed to be convinced to give up their bulging deal pipelines and divert their attention to the fledgling Asia Pacific market, where deals are scarce and volumes light.
How things have changed. While bankers in Europe and the US wait nervously for news of the inevitable job cuts, their Asian counterparts are sitting relatively comfortably.
And rightly so. The massive fixed income losses recorded by the big investment banks have not come from Asia, where economies are still booming and deals are still getting done.
While the list of casualties continues to grow in the US and, to a lesser extent, in Europe, Asian bankers have been left almost entirely unscathed.
Since the turmoil began in the summer, even the most senior departures in Asian fixed income have not been prompted by losses in the Asian market. Jeremy Amias left Citigroup on good terms, while Merrill Lynch’s dismissal of Ranodeb Roy, its co-head of Asian fixed income, last week marked a retreat from its attempt to push derivatives products in the region, rather than a cut in its traditional staff.
Most fixed income bankers in Asia Pacific feel their jobs are safe, and it would be a mistake for any bank to pull out. Of course there will be some changes once this year’s bonuses have been paid, and anyone looking for a move is unlikely to be offered the same sweetheart bonus guarantees that were on the table 12 months ago.
But even in a worst case scenario, wholesale job cuts are unlikely in 2008, and anyone in London or New York who turned down a move to Asia will be kicking themselves.
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