Asia now pays if you work in investment banking IT

Salaries for financial technology professionals in Asia are now comparable with the UK, and Asian firms are interested in hiring senior IT pros and people with specific product knowledge.

The slumping pound, together with the need to hire westerners for senior financial technology roles, has driven up salaries in both Hong Kong and Singapore, says a new salary survey.

For instance, a development manager with 8+ years experience can expect to earn between 90-136k in Hong Kong, or 80-102k in Singapore, according to recruiter Hudson's latest salary survey.

In the UK, the same position pays between 110-140k, according to figures from the 2009 Robert Walters salary survey

Chris Mead, general manager at Hays in Singapore, tells us that financial firms in Asia are very keen to attract UK techies.

"The UK is widely considered as a more mature market, with more depth of management or pressurised experience facing off directly to business needs," he says. "This depth of experience is less common across Asia in general and Singapore specifically."

Lower down the pecking order, where there's ample expertise locally, pay doesn't compare so favourably. A senior Java developer in Singapore, for example, can earn between 46-70k, whereas base pay in the UK is 65-90k.

Mead adds that Asian firms are also looking for senior technologists with specific front office experience around commodities, credit risk and derivatives.

Financial services IT salaries in Asia (base only):

CIO: Hong Kong HK$3-4m, Singapore S$500-600k

Development manager: Hong Kong HK$1-$1.5m Singapore S$170-220k

Programme manager: Hong Kong HK$1-2m Singapore S$200-400k

Front office business analyst: Hong Kong HK$800k-1m Singapore S$100-150k

Java developer (core java, J2EE): Hong Kong HK$700k-1.2m Singapore S$100-150k

C++ developer Hong Kong HK$800k-1.2m Singapore S$100k-150k

Source: Hudson

HK$1 = 0.09, S$1 = 0.46