How much am I worth? Asian equities sales trader, European investment bank
A panel of specialist headhunters give their assessment of typical pay packages:Asian equities sales trader, European investment bank: Salary, junior to intermediate level, 40,000-60,000, bonus 40%-60% of salary.
Suggesting that Asian equity markets are not quite flavour of the month right now would be something of an understatement. The great boom-driven region of the late 1980s and early 1990s is sadly no more.
Indeed, markets in many countries have yet to recover to where they were before the 'Asian crisis' began in 1997, when years of optimistic expansion were brought to a sudden end by financial meltdown and currency collapse.
The region's efforts to recover have been hampered by the poor performance of Japan's stock market in particular and growing fears that it has no answers to the problems besetting its economy. Other markets, such as Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia, have been undermined by separate political and economic concerns as well as the wider market malaise.
Not surprisingly, the once-confident employees who sell and trade Asian stocks have been among those hardest hit by the region's fall from grace. Many have lost their jobs and bonuses for those who remain are often well under half of what they received last year.
"People have worries about all sorts of things ñ about whether there is another Enron out there, about whether there will be another big Anderson-type fiasco. Asian markets are more volatile than most and salary and bonus rates have suffered accordingly," says Tony Tucker of the headhunting firm ERG.
He says even the better Asian equity salesmen and traders are not much in demand. ABN Amro and SG are among the banks that have pulled back from the region in recent months.
Other headhunters say that although Asian equity sales traders are never going to be paid as well as their counterparts in US or European markets, the outlook is not all bad.
Simon Vaughan-Edwards, a director at Alexander Mann Global Markets, says: "Top-tier Asian sales traders are still somewhat in demand as firms look at the functions which can add immediate bottom line value." People with the best client relationships can expect to be paid a premium, he said.
Though base salaries are predictably static - ranging from 60,000 for an intermediate to 120,000 for a senior professional - there is a huge variation in packages, he said, with top individuals able to secure a bonus that takes their total package above 300,000.
And there are some in the market who see glimmers of light on the horizon. Oliver Dent, a director at the headhunter Longbridge, points to encouraging news coming from China and Thailand which has improved market sentiment towards these countries the continuing growth of the former has encouraged investors to look again at opportunities there, while the latter has enacted some well-received financial market reforms.
Such positive news could eventually feed into more Asian equity market business generally, which would mean an improvement in bonuses.
Figures and commentary provided by Alexander Mann Global Markets, ERG and Longbridge
