M&A hiring is still slow
Employment prospects for M&A professionals in Australia might be better than in New York or London, but vacancies remain rare and largely limited to niche roles. Australian deal flow at foreign i-banks like UBS isn't yet strong enough for their overseas headquarters to relax their recruitment restrictions down under.
"The UK and US have fared much worse than Australia, but people have been let go in M&A teams here too. The overseas banks are now cautious about recruitment," says Darren Terkel, principal, Front Office Executive Search.
Australia is actually one of the busiest M&A markets in Asia Pacific, according to research firm Dealogic. And unlike in America and Europe, recent deals have not just been driven by banking sector takeovers. Japan's Kirin, for example, is set to fully acquire the brewer Lion Nathan, and there is still strong Chinese interest in resources.
But M&A activity is weaker than during the economic boom and it remains hard to complete deals because of credit market tightness.
What does this all mean for jobs?
"Overall the job market is still quiet. There is some opportunistic hiring at a head-of-department level for people who can originate work and who have good client networks," says Terkel.
Oliver Darkes, principal consultant, Carmichael Fisher, agrees: "Senior professionals, who hold the relationships and have the origination prowess, are always in high demand. But moving these people can prove a lengthy and difficult process."
There are some signs that the worst is over and M&A retrenchments have run their course. Darkes describes the market as characterised by: "Ripples of hiring activity, a couple of growth stories, some musical chairs and in certain houses, up-skilling. I have also noted that some firms have retrenched perhaps too many people over the past 12 months and are selectively rehiring."
The hot sectors for M&A bankers are financial institutions, natural resources, utilities and infrastructure, adds Darkes. "Over the next six months, and as long as deal flow continues, top shops will continue to vie for the best talent."
Terkel has seen some M&A staff move internally into debt advisory roles, and he says boutique corporate advisory firms are currently seen as safer havens than the big i-banks.
"Overall compensation packages are now more realistic, with M&A bankers not receiving the high multiples they did previously. Their expectations are much lower," adds Terkel.
