Mainland Chinese bankers are taking over Hong Kong’s financial sector, displacing their local peers in top roles

Hongkongers’ share of investment banking jobs in the city has slumped to about 30 per cent from 40 per cent two years ago

As the supply of bankers from the mainland has increased, pay packages across the city have dwindled

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Hong Kong’s financial landscape is changing as more mainland Chinese bankers take the top banking jobs. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:30am, 12 Oct 2020Updated: 11:30am, 12 Oct 2020

Hong Kong’s home-grown investment bankers are rapidly losing their status as the city’s go-to deal makers, supplanted by mainland Chinese rivals who now hold a majority of senior jobs in Asia’s biggest financial hub.

While the shift has long seemed inevitable given the expanding pool of mainland talent and dominant role of Chinese issuers in Hong Kong, the recent pace of change has jolted even some industry veterans. They say it’s partly explained by a reluctance among Chinese securities firms to hire and promote Hongkongers after anti-government protests rocked the former British colony in 2019.

Locals’ share of investment banking jobs in the city has slumped to about 30 per cent from 40 per cent two years ago, with 60 per cent of roles now filled by mainlanders and 10 per cent by overseas nationals, according to Robert Walters, a recruiting company.

The trend has been similar in the industry’s upper echelons, where mainlanders account for more than half of senior roles, estimates from executive search firm Wellesley show.

The figures underscore the uncertain economic future facing even well-to-do Hongkongers, many of whom thrived for decades by acting as financial intermediaries between a rising China and the rest of the world. While some in the industry have enjoyed relative stability in roles like trading that rely less on client relationships, those jobs also may come under threat as China makes it easier for global firms to bypass Hong Kong and access onshore markets directly.

“With such a vast percentage of deals coming out of mainland China, it’s understandable that many of those relationships are owned by mainland Chinese bankers,” said John Mullally, regional director at Robert Walters in Hong Kong. He said mainlanders comprised just 15 per cent of the industry 20 years ago, before widespread access to study-abroad programmes and other international experience helped China narrow its skills gap with Hong Kong.

The new environment has stymied even some of the most experienced Hong Kong bankers.