Chinese liberalisation driving increased demand for sales staff

Foreign exchange sales staff with expertise in China are set to be in particular demand in 2004, according to recruitment specialists in the Asia-Pacific, reports Risk’s sister publication FX Week .

"Foreign exchange sales into China is going to outpace any other institutional sales in the region," said Mark Pink, Tokyo-based managing director of TMJ Net Media, the parent company of recruitment consultancy Top Money Jobs. "We have had several requests for institutional forex sales staff recently, which we never had even three months ago."

Matthew Miller, Asia-Pacific head of fixed income at recruitment firm Global Sage, agreed: "Banks perceive the main opportunity going forward for foreign exchange to be China, so they are looking for salesmen to cover the People’s Republic [of China]."

Top forex banks have already started increasing staffing levels in Asia as part of their strategies to win business in China as it gradually liberalises its economy. Opportunities for banks lie in areas such as the long-anticipated relaxation of the renminbi’s peg to the US dollar, and regulation changes that mean banks can trade non-renminbi derivatives for profit in the People’s Republic.

Pink explained that banks are looking for people based in "Singapore, Hong Kong or Taipei" who would be selling foreign exchange services "primarily to manufacturers and other corporates".

Global Sage’s Miller added that the search for China forex sales staff is not limited to personnel already based in Hong Kong. "As the local talent pool becomes tighter, we often look globally, and it is not uncommon to hire back People’s Republic of China nationals from London and New York to roles in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai."