Monday’s Headlines: Nomura to Boost Graduate Hires in 2013

While banks around the world are freezing or dropping hiring, Japan is estimating an economic turnaround at home and globally, and its largest financial institutions are hiring accordingly. Nomura, which has a large U.S. presence, and other Japanese institutions expect to hire 13 percent more college graduates next year, according to Businessweek. These firms expect to hire a total of 1,580 recent grads starting April 1, 2013, up from 1,402 today. The breakdown is as follows:

• Nomura, more than 600, compared with 615 this year, and 604 last year
• Daiwa Securities 500, up from 354
• SMBC Nikko Securities 300, down from 386
• Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities 180, up from 47

The country has seen a remarkable return following its disastrous earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe last year. The Nikkei is up and Japan’s GDP expanded. One Mitsubishi hiring exec told the publication: “This year, circumstances are allowing us to hire graduates as we expect a V-shape recovery in Japan helped by a steady U.S. economy, stabilization in Europe and a stock market recovery.”

Nomura expects a jump in demand for cross-border deals and expects to add up to 15 top positions to its 140-member M&A team in Japan.

 

Other News:

Goldman commits to India. [WSJ]

Goldman considers a property debt fund. [Reuters]

AIG considers buying mortgages that it insures. [Financial Times]

Private equity is reigning in its ambitions. [Triago]

Pension funds that have shifted their investments into private equity, real estate and hedge funds see their fees soar and returns lag more traditional investments. [NY Times]

Finra’s risk survey – due April 9th – annoys broker-dealers who charge it’s a fishing expedition. [Investment News]

Goldman sold its stake in Backpage.com, which lists ads for prostitution. [NY Times]

Oaktree hopes to raise $517.5 million in an IPO. [Bloomberg]

George’s son Jonathan Soros is setting up his own family office. [Reuters]

Ahmass Fakahany left a lucrative career at Merrill Lynch to launch a successful restaurant business. [NY Times]

Mitsubishi may spend several billion dollars to buy a U.S. regional bank. [Bloomberg]

RBS will sell its Asian units for $277.3 million to the Malaysian bank CIMB. [Reuters]

U of C profs argue for a financial products agency akin to the FDA. [NY Times]

Schwab’s CEO finally gets a comps boost to $10 million. [Investment News]

Occupy Wall Street is struggling to remain relevant. [DealBook]