Hong Kong stock market rally has not led to more hires
Smooth trading on online platform vital as market bull run attracts new investors
The stock market rally has brought fortunes for many investors and lured new punters into the market, but it has not created many jobs.
talked to a number of brokers but could not find anyone planning to hire more.
While they have new investors opening stock accounts, they say most of the dealing is done electronically so they do not need to hire staff to serve the rising number of customers.
They just have to make sure the online platform works instead of hiring people to take telephone calls from their customers.
There are still some investors who insist on personal contact and would call their brokers to place orders. Many have complained they could not contact their brokers during the rally in the past two weeks. But as long as their calls get through and they make money, they do not complain too much.
Christine Houston, the managing director of ESGI, an executive search and leadership advisory firm, said the market rally had not yet translated into more hiring.
"The higher market turnover and resurgent Hang Seng Index have not meant investment banks have had to create new positions," Houston said.
"Many investment banks do not want to expand headcounts too widely as capital requirements after the financial crisis created greater pressure on margins."
She said asset management firms, insurance companies and wealth management departments wanted to hire more people. They were hiring not because of the market rally but to develop products to capture demand from the rising middle class in Asia.
In terms of functional roles, she said the most wanted executives included research analysts, risk management and compliance officers and human resources executives.
Brokers also hold the view they want to hire more people for compliance work and to make sure they adhere to capital and other regulatory requirements.
