Australasian banks are summer hirers

Which banks are the most likely to add staff at this time of year? Look no further than those from Australasia.

While US banks have their financial year ends in December and January, the likes of Nomura, Mizuho Financial and UFJ Financial report between the end of March and May.

As a result, while American banks are now reining in recruitment spending in advance of their end of year results, recruiters say Australasian banks are still hiring avidly.

"Given that we're still in the first and second quarter for most Japanese banks, this tends to be their most active hiring period," says Shaun Springer, chief executive of search firm Napier Scott. "They tend to hire all year round."

Recruiters say Nomura is hiring for distressed debt, leveraged finance and principal finance. Mizuho is reportedly hiring in leveraged finance too, as well as in asset backed trading and finance. Meanwhile Macquarie has vacancies in credit analysis and equity research.

With Japanese banks falling outside the elite circle of investment banks, recruiters say they typically offer generous inducements in order to lure staff. "I've seen some people have their compensation tripled after moving to Nomura," says one search consultant. "There's a natural premium to working there because it can be very hard to move on and find a job elsewhere."

"Japanese banks tend to pay traders a far higher percentage of profits as a bonus," says another consultant. "If you move from the likes of Merrill Lynch you might get 20% of profits instead of 5%. The only problem is that it tends to be at least five times as hard to make those profits in the first place."