Vanguard of Asian Growth

6 July 2011
Mark O'Reilly

Taken from Hong Kong Trader

Mark O’Reilly heads up global financial recruitment firm Astbury Marsden's Asia-Pacific division, overseeing the Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney offices. After completing a commerce degree, Mr O’Reilly began his career in Australia in 1998, recruiting into the investment banking and asset management sectors. In 2001, he relocated to London, where he built Hudson's asset management recruitment desk from scratch.

Mr O’Reilly joined Astbury Marsden in January 2006 to lead the banking division, providing leadership to the finance, operations, risk, compliance, front office and strategy recruitment teams. He moved to Hong Kong in February to build the company's Asia business. In Six Questions, the talent recruiter explains why an “Asia experience” is vital for anyone in the business of finance.

As a newly arrived expat, what are your impressions of the city?

I see a city very much at the vanguard of Asian economic growth. Hong Kong is assuming a mantle as “destination of choice” for young professional expats in the post-financial crisis world. Opportunities for career advancement and social enjoyment are offered in equal measure. This rising popularity seems to have had a knock-on effect to all aspects of life here, some positive – endless openings of new bars and restaurants – some problematic – rising cost of living, etc. It will be interesting to see how these social considerations are balanced in the years to come.

Your role is to spearhead Astbury Marsden’s Asian expansion. What are your goals?

Like many firms, we recognise the enormous potential Asia represents for sustainable, long-term business growth. Our goal is to grow the contribution of our international business so that it accounts for 40 per cent of group revenue by 2014. To achieve this, we will need to be operating in multiple locations across the region. We already have offices in Hong Kong and Singapore. Sydney and mainland China are next on the agenda. Our aim is to be recognised as the leading international player in mid- to senior-level banking recruitment. It’s an ambitious end goal and one that will only become a reality if we can hire equally ambitious individuals to share in the journey. You have to believe in your product, and we feel our track record and specialist position in the market provides a key point of differentiation to other firms.

Why is Hong Kong an ideal location for managing and building a regional business?

There is a tangible degree of optimism when people talk about future business opportunities in Asia, and Hong Kong is neatly positioned to provide firms like ours a platform to tap into the regional market. Within our banking client base, Hong Kong is often a hub for the Asia region, so senior executives and key decision-makers are based here. As a consequence, winning business in Hong Kong will often have a snowball effect, allowing us to deal with a firm in other locations in Asia.

Hong Kong is also a good place for us to attract staff or transfer talent from other office locations. The city has something to offer most people, irrespective of what stage in life or career they may be.

Why is Hong Kong such a hot spot for bankers who want to come here?

Hong Kong is seen as a particularly attractive location for bankers in the current climate for a number of reasons. The tax advantages of being based here versus London, New York or Frankfurt are considerable.

Rightly or wrongly, in many parts of the globe, bankers have not exactly been flavour of the month since the financial crisis. In Hong Kong, it is widely accepted that banking is a key and crucial contributor to the city's economy. In a nutshell, I think bankers often feel more loved here.

As a conduit to the Chinese mainland, significant financing and investment activity of regional importance occurs in Hong Kong. For any banker, positioning yourself at the epicentre of where the money flows is sensible career practice.

How important is “Asia experience” these days for a finance executive with high career aspirations?

It’s vital. With Asia driving so much of the global economic recovery, any executive who learns how to effectively do business in this part of the world should be a hot commodity in the years to come. Most international financial services firms also believe they will achieve greater return on investment in Asia versus other parts of the world. To this end, our banking clients have been growing headcount in Hong Kong for several years now. While 2011 has seen some slowdown in “investment hires,” many banks are still more likely to get sign-off for additional headcount in Hong Kong versus London or New York.

Is Astbury Marsden planning to expand its Hong Kong team?

We plan to build out the same service offering in each of our office locations. In Hong Kong, we already have teams focused on the finance, technology, operations and risk sectors of the banking market. We still need to hire experienced recruiters to cover the front office M&A market as well as the management consulting sector. By “sticking to the knitting,” so to speak, we can quickly leverage senior-level client relationships and candidate networks where our brand already has a strong international presence.

We have already received multiple requests from clients to help them find staff in all our business areas. I have always found that one of the best barometers of market confidence is junior-level hiring in M&A teams. If investment banks are hiring significant quantities of analysts and associates for M&A teams, it usually indicates strong deal pipeline. An upturn in corporate finance activity often points to increased levels of confidence in the economy at large.

 

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