Project finance teams: Still sitting (relatively) pretty as other i-bankers struggle
Of all the investment and institutional banking functions, the project finance (PF) job market has remained the steadiest during the last six month 2012, and it shows no signs of declining as we enter the new financial year.
With continued investment in significant infrastructure projects across Australia, demand for project financiers with advisory experience in areas such as rail, ports, energy, transport and PPP remains healthy, says Trevor Bradley, practice manager, banking, Kelly Executive.
The majority of recent vacancies are at analyst or senior-associate level, with the most active recruiters being the big four Australian banks, Asian banks and the odd mid-tier European bank. “Some Asian banks have been more proactive as they seek a foothold in new sectors of the Australian market,” adds Bradley.
Banks do try to poach project finance talent from competitors, but it is not always easy thanks to a tight talent market. “From, say, senior-associate level upwards, many PF bankers know one another through interaction on syndicated deals. Therefore, if an organisation has a senior vacancy they may engage a third party to ensure an arms-length engagement, otherwise they will simply speak directly if they are comfortable doing so.”
People seeking moves away from professional services firms – primarily Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Ernst & Young – or institutional banking teams are also considered. But they must have what Bradley describes as “exceptional financial modelling skills”.
Bradley adds that those from professional services are attracted by the opportunity “to work at the coalface on live deals, and to receive typically higher salaries”.
“I wouldn’t say there is a point where you become too experienced to move into banking, it’s just a more common and logical step for analyst-, associate- or manager -level candidates to take, particularly if they are keen to pursue a banking career in a specialist sector such as project finance,” says Bradley.
Candidates with these backgrounds can generally secure compensation increases of between 20 and per cent when they change jobs. Those with domestic project finance knowledge are generally preferred over people who only have overseas experience
