Banking Job Opportunities in Singapore

Job seekers can apply in the following streams in Singapore banking jobs:

Investment Banking: Investment banking deals with raising capital funds for companies and governments. This is done by issuing securities in equity and debt capital markets. Investment bankers trade in securities and offer advisory services on mergers and acquisitions to corporations. The Singapore Investment Banking Association and Deutsche Bank – Singapore are the premier organizations offering investment banking services in the country.

Financial Planning: This involves creating financial plans for clients considering their budget and goals. A professional financial planner assists clients on several aspects, including investment planning, insurance planning, cash flow management, risk management, business succession planning, retirement planning, tax planning, investment planning and education planning. Autovisa Service, Tay Choon Mong Agency and Sgrealty are some of the reputed financial planning consultancies in Singapore.

Funds Administration: Fund administrators are specialist companies that offer administration services to fund managers. They facilitate investment schemes, such as mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds and unit trusts. The core work area involves the calculation of net asset value, payment of the funds expenses, pricing of security, preparation of semi-annual and annual accounts and maintenance of the fund's financial books and records. Deutsche Bank has several fund administration offices across Singapore.

Risk Management: This field deals in recognizing, assessing and prioritizing financial risks. Risk managers implement various financial instruments to help clients avoid risks associated with credit, market, liquidity, inflation and foreign exchange. Job seekers can apply for the posts of credit risk analyst, regulatory market risk representative and market risk manager. The NUS Risk Management Institute is one of the largest in Singapore offering courses in risk management.

Project Management: Project managers plan, organize and manage financial resources to help clients achieve project objectives smoothly. The Terrapinn Financial Training institute is where students can seek project management training.

Other Singapore banking job lie in research and analysis, consulting, sales and relationship management, trading and dealing and equity and debt capital.

Finance Job Opportunities in Singapore

Finance jobs in Singapore suffered a major setback during the economic meltdown of 2008. Then in March 2009, the Ministry of Finance in Singapore invested US$3 billion through the Jobs Credit Scheme. This scheme required employers to subsidize a part of their wage bills.

Students and fresh graduates can apply for the following finance jobs in Singapore:

Financial Planner: A financial planner helps clients in making investment decisions taking into account their financial goals. Highly trained and experienced financial planners are typically in high demand in high-profile corporations and businesses. Apart from investment planning, a financial planner performs risk management, retirement planning, cash flow management, insurance planning and tax planning services. This job requires new candidates to be proficient in tax laws, insurance, investment strategies and real estate.

Actuary: A professional actuary works with an insurance company. The job of an actuary involves ascertaining the cost of insurance policies. Actuaries also decide the financial impact of risk and whether one should receive insurance or not. This job requires strong mathematics, problem solving and decision-making prowess.

Budget Analyst: Budget analysts are responsible for creating company budgets. They assess the limit of financial expenditures on ongoing and future projects. Through careful cost management analysis, they facilitate reduction in expenses and increase in revenues. The job of a business analyst demands excellent communication skills.

Loan Officer: A loan officer works with a bank and decides the approval and denial of loan applications. S/he assists customers in fulfilling all the requirements to apply for loans. A loan officer verifies the information provided by customers and also analyzes whether they will be able to payback the loan amount. This job requires client servicing and decision making skills.

Average annual salaries for finance sector jobs in Singapore as per 2008 data:

• Actuary - around $5,100
• Fund Manager - around $8,100
• Credit Analyst - around $4,600
• Financial Analyst - around $6,000
• Budgeting Manager - around $8,000
• Commodities and Futures Broker - around $17,500
• Foreign Exchange Dealer and Broker - around $11,000
• Personal Banker - around $ 6,250
• Securities Dealer and Broker - around $5,700

Bank Job Opportunities in Singapore

In Singapore, job advertisements rose 6.4 percent in the second quarter of 2009 as compared to the first quarter of the year, according to a survey conducted by recruiting firm Robert Walters and reported by the New York Times.

DBS Bank Limited: Founded in 1968, DBS Bank is the largest in Southeast Asia in terms of assets. The bank has more than 14,000 employees. The customer base of the banks is over 3.2 million in Singapore and 5 million in the Asia-Pacific region. Its network is spread in 12 countries with 1,424 branches. The bank offers the DBS Internship Program for undergraduates. Graduates can apply for business unit controller, business analytics executive, credit analyst and senior relationship manager.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited: OCBC, one of the largest local banks in Singapore, was founded in 1912. OCBC has its presence in 15 countries including USA, the UK and Japan and manages group assets of over S$180 billion. The number of employees working with OCBC is over 18,000. There are more than 360 branches of OCBC in Indonesia. Job seekers can apply for the following positions in the bank:

• Trade Service Officer, Enterprise Banking
• Market Risk Officer - IMRCPO
• Portfolio Analyst - Credit RWA Analytics
• Recovery Collectors - Credit Risk Management, Collections
• Market Price Control Analyst - Market Risk Management

United Overseas Bank Limited: Started in 1935, UOB is among the leading banks in Singapore. The bank has its presence in Asia Pacific, North America and Western Europe. Its network comprises more than 500 branches in 18 countries. Students seeking training can take advantage of the internship program that UOB offers. Graduate careers include UOB graduate internship and personal banking associates.

The Islamic Bank of Asia: Established in 2007 by DBS, IB Asia has its roots in the Middle East. The various services and products that IB Asia offers include financing, trade finance products, capital markets and wealth management & treasury solutions. Experienced professionals can apply for management level jobs with IB Asia.