Career Advice Detail Asean

Finance and Business

1.   Overview

Finance

The demand for Singapore’s accountancy and finance jobs is on the rise. Consulting continues to be a growth area within professional services firms with focus on regulatory, risk and compliance experts. In particular, candidates who have experience advising financial services clients or working in larger strategy houses, are in high demand.

The banking sector in Singapore is experiencing solid growth, and the banks are responding by increasing both their temporary and permanent staff. Demand is high for Credit & Market Risk specialists and Compliance Officers, Projects/Change Managers due to the consistently changing regulatory landscape and focus on control measures.
 

Business

Business has always been one of the most popular degree at universities all over the world. The skills gained on a business study allow graduates to build quick and effective commercial awareness of any employers. That gives them the ability to work in various sectors such as chemicals, utilities, fashion, health, grocery and construction. Therefore it can be said that demand for business job largely depends on economic conditions. In fact, Singapore is often referred to as one of Asia′s economic "tigers" and it is forecasted by The Economist that Singapore′s economy will expand at an average annual rate of 5.1% in 2013 – 2020, implying increasing demand for high quality business jobs.

Source:
http://asianbankingandfinance.net/blogs-opinion/commentary/here-are-asias-in-demand-banking-and-finance-jobs-right-now
http://sbr.com.sg/hr-education/commentary/singapores-job-hotspots-2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15961759
http://country.eiu.com/singapore
 

2. Career opportunity

Finance

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower has drawn up a list of skills in demand for Finance job as follow which is in consultant with the respective industries and relevant government agencies

• Compliance Managers
• Risk Management Managers
• Information Technology Professionals
• Product Controllers
• Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) Sales/ Traders
• Investment Management Professionals
• Project Management Professionals
• Research Analysts and Structurers in Shipping, Aviation, Commodities, Infrastructure Finance, Real Estate
• Underwriters and Actuaries in Marine Hull, Aviation, Energy, Political Risk, Terrorism and Agriculture Insurance

Following are examples of some executive roles in the field and their wage range:

Job title	Job description	Annual wage range/ Experience
Operations Officer - Financial markets (Settlement, derivative processing and documentation specialist)	-          Complete trade transactions executed by the front office, analyse exceptions in processing, and design innovative front-to-back trade processes.	$35,000 - $80,000 (0 - 4 years)
		$70,000 - $135,000 (4 - 8 years)
Risk Manager	-          Identify and analyse risk undertaken by financial institutions such as credit risks, market risks and operational risks. -          Use financial instruments to manage exposure to risk.	$40,000 - $90,000 (0 - 4 years)
		$90,000 - $140,000 (4 - 8 years)
Compliance Manager	-          Interpret and ensure adherence to regulatory requirements. -          Advise on and implement compliance policies of the financial institution.	$40,000 - $80,000 (0 - 4 years)
		$80,000 - $160,000 (4 - 8 years)
Finance and Tax	-          Involved in financial reporting, management reporting, organisational budgeting/ expenditure and related activities.	$45,000 - $90,000 (0 - 4 years)
		$70,000 - $120,000 (4 - 8 years)

Business

Careers with a business degree are diverse and often highly paid.

Business graduates go on to work in myriad different sectors, and not all of them are those you would typically associate with business in general. More obvious careers with a business degree include roles in accounting and finance departments, which take in large numbers of business degree graduates. Other sectors with high demand for business graduates include marketing and advertising, as well as retail, sales, human resources and business consultancy.

You could also use your business degree to pursue roles within SMEs (small- to medium-sized enterprises), innovative new start-ups, charities, non-profit organizations and NGOs. If you have a bright idea and the knowledge to back it up, you may even consider launching your own business.Source:

http://www.mom.gov.sg/skills-training-and-development/skills-in-demand/Pages/skills-in-demand.aspx

http://www.topuniversities.com/courses/business-management-studies/why-study-business

Labour Market Highlights, 2011/ 2012, Ministry of Manpower and Singapore workforce development agency

3.    Top employers

Top local Finance and Banking firm

• Allen & Gledhill LLP – Website: http:// www.allenandgledhill.com/Pages/default.aspx
• Shook Lin & Bok LLP – Website: http://www.shooklin.com/en/
• WongPartnership LLP – Website: http://www.wongpartnership.com/
• Drew & Napier LLC – Website: http://www.drewnapier.com/home
• Source:
• http://www.legal500.com/c/singapore/banking-and-finance/local-firms#table_2801

Professional companies: offering audit, assurance, tax, consulting, advisory, actuarial, corporate finance, and legal services.

• Deloitte - Website: http://www2.deloitte.com/sg/en.html
• PwC - Website: http://www.pwc.com/sg/en/
• EY - Website: http://www.ey.com/SG/en/home
• KPMG - Website: http://www.kpmg.com/sg/en/pages/default.aspx
• McKinsey - Website: http://www.mckinsey.com/global_locations/asia/singapore

Banks

Local banks

• Bank of Singapore (part of OCBC) - Website: http://www.bankofsingapore.com/en-us/index
• DBS Bank Limited - Website: http://www.dbs.com.sg/index/default.page
• United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) - Website: http://www.uobgroup.com/
• Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC) - Website: http://www.ocbc.com/group/group-home.html

Foreign banks

• Bank of America - Website: https://www.bankofamerica.com/
• Bank of China Limited - Website: http://www.boc.cn/
• Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Limited – Website: http://www.bk.mufg.jp/global/
• Citibank - Website: http://www.citigroup.com/citi/
• JPMorgan Chase Bank - Website: http://www.jpmorganchase.com/

4.    Advice

Finance

For a graduate, following are examples of common Finance career paths:

• Investment Analysts would become a Fund Manager before moving into an Associate position
• On the other side of the finance sector, newly qualified Accountants will regularly move into a Senior Accountant, Financial Controller or Auditor position and opportunities to continue into a Finance Director role.In general, a career in Finance and Banking normally requires a solid background in business-related subjects including accounting, business finance, money and financial markets, statistics, and economics. Demonstrable experience that includes economic analysis and an understanding of economic markets and financial trends is also valued by employers. A summer internship at a bank or relevant departments at a company can provide valuable experience that may help students enter the financial services industry.

Following are several well-known professional bodies should be taken into consideration which offer their members the opportunity to obtain professional qualifications and are widely recognized by professions all over the world:

• The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) - http://www.cimaglobal.com allows you to run the accounts of a business or be a finance director, but you are not certified to sign off audited accounts of another businesses,
• The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) - http://www.accaglobal.com/vn/en.html allows you sign off audited accounts of another business, but you are not necessarily trained to be a company accountant or finance director, although often this does happen.
• Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI)  - http://www.cisi.org  providing a range of qualifications for those who are already working, or would like to work in, the financial services industry, including Wealth/Retail, Compliance/Risk, Operations and Capital Markets.
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) - https://www.cfainstitute.org/Pages/index.aspx  providing a strong foundation of advanced investment analysis and real-world portfolio management skills.

Source:
http://whatqualifications.co.uk/WhatQualifications/Accountant
https://sipa.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/Career%20Op%20Banking%20and%20Finance.pdf
http://career-advice.monster.co.uk/searching-for-jobs/job-advice-by-industry/what-are-the-common-finance-career-paths/article.aspx

Business

To increase their employability, some business graduates may choose to undertake further study in specific subjects such as marketing, finance, human resources, law and international business management in order to develop their expertise in a particular area of business. Studying for an MBA is also a wise option.

Source: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/options_business_and_management_studies.htm