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seek advice on package (banking)

Discuss about getting a well paid job or career advancement. Ask about salaries, expat packages, CPF & taxes for expatriate.
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Soren_H
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seek advice on package (banking)

Post by Soren_H » Tue, 07 May 2013 2:54 pm

Hi,

I have just received an offer from a british bank in Singapore. Am not sure should I take it considering there is no relocation allowance. I have never been to SG so your advice is highly appreciated!

Here is the offer details:

Salary: SGD9.4K
Title: Senior Manager, Portfolio Management
Industry: Banking
Reloaction Allowance: None
Terms: Local contract
annual leaves: 25 days


About me:

30 Male Single, Danish
5 yrs banking experience(Risk / Capital Management) in London. 1 yr in HK. 1 yr in Amsterdam.


Does the aforementioned package fairly reflect my experience and the market benchmark in SG?

9.4k is slightly below my expectation but I do consider the experience in SG valuable to my CV.

What do you think?


Much Appreciated!

Soren

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Post by AngMoG » Tue, 07 May 2013 4:14 pm

Seems pretty fair to me. With the salary, you will not have any problems living in Singapore as long as you do not insist on owning a car, or having a house with garden.

Rent a condo, and enjoy life. Note two things:
1) Income tax is very low here, check iras.gov.sg for details
2) At that level, your chances for an employment pass are good, but nothing is 100% any more, keep that in mind.

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JR8
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Post by JR8 » Tue, 07 May 2013 4:18 pm

It would help if you could hint at what you currently earn, and in what country you are. Plus the kind of place you'd wish to rent. Then you could put the figure into a Cost of Living Calculator (refer to the FAQ linked in SundayMorningStaple's tag-line).

Meanwhile, S$9.4*12=102.8k, = euro64k or GBP54k. Not a lot to move half-way around the world.

From that you'd be paying:
Your journey
Relocation expenses (tropical clothing, furnishings, electricals)
Your freight
Hotel on arrival until you have a flat organised
Your rent
Expenses visiting back home ('home leave')
Taxes.

I don't know how much such 'work experience' might be worth to you on your resume, but one would hope an awful lot, to even consider this.

Back of an envelope I'd reckon a *base* of euro50k p.a. on the above, but that is before tax.

That is also before, food, drink, travel, recreation and so on...

My impression is they sense they can get you very cheaply. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole.

Just my 2C!

Soren_H
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Post by Soren_H » Tue, 07 May 2013 7:55 pm

AngMoG wrote:Seems pretty fair to me. With the salary, you will not have any problems living in Singapore as long as you do not insist on owning a car, or having a house with garden.

Rent a condo, and enjoy life. Note two things:
1) Income tax is very low here, check iras.gov.sg for details
2) At that level, your chances for an employment pass are good, but nothing is 100% any more, keep that in mind.
Thanks AngMoG!

quick one:

Re 1 what is the rate like?

Cheers!

Soren_H
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Post by Soren_H » Tue, 07 May 2013 8:05 pm

JR8 wrote:It would help if you could hint at what you currently earn, and in what country you are. Plus the kind of place you'd wish to rent. Then you could put the figure into a Cost of Living Calculator (refer to the FAQ linked in SundayMorningStaple's tag-line).

Meanwhile, S$9.4*12=102.8k, = euro64k or GBP54k. Not a lot to move half-way around the world.

From that you'd be paying:
Your journey
Relocation expenses (tropical clothing, furnishings, electricals)
Your freight
Hotel on arrival until you have a flat organised
Your rent
Expenses visiting back home ('home leave')
Taxes.

I don't know how much such 'work experience' might be worth to you on your resume, but one would hope an awful lot, to even consider this.

Back of an envelope I'd reckon a *base* of euro50k p.a. on the above, but that is before tax.

That is also before, food, drink, travel, recreation and so on...

My impression is they sense they can get you very cheaply. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole.

Just my 2C!
Hi JR8 really appreciate ur analysis / feedback!

I left my last job in Amsterdam 8 months ago then I went to LA to live with my gf the following 6 months.....so I am not with any bank/company now.
The salary that they offer me now is almost exactly what I earned back in Amsterdam.
I was asking for 15% - 25% increment but they just refused me claiming there is a budget concern with the team.

From a local contract perspective am I underpaid with this package considering my 7-8 year banking experience?

Many Thanks!


Soren

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nutnut
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Post by nutnut » Tue, 07 May 2013 8:54 pm

Hmmm, how do you justify the increment? 6 months in LA, did you learn some new skills?
nutnut

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Post by Wd40 » Tue, 07 May 2013 9:56 pm

Considering the Title "Senior manager" I would say the pay is on the lower side. Is it an AVP or a VP role? The salary seems to be okayish for an AVP role.

If the British bank you are talking about starts with a B, I am a bit familiar with it :) I dont work there though and I work in IT as a developer

If the bank indeed starts with B, then they do provide the equivalent of Employer contribution($800) to CPF to a private pension fund and you need to contribute $1000 as well.

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Post by JR8 » Tue, 07 May 2013 10:38 pm

It sounds light to me. Put it like this, I had a similar'ish profile to you (but Wall street bank, internal relocations) and was offered more than you have been (as a whole package)... *and* that was 20 years ago! Please don't think I'm bragging, as I am sincerely not. That was little more than I'd have earned 'on a cost-adjusted basis' back home at that time in London.

As a starting point why not try and view/review some jobs ads/available in Singapore, to try get a level for what your skills/ position are worth locally?

Maybe many more talented westerners are willing to make such a move, as opposed to back in my days... but, somehow I doubt it. You need to look at this very carefully, that's my advice!

good luck

Soren_H
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Post by Soren_H » Wed, 08 May 2013 8:08 pm

nutnut wrote:Hmmm, how do you justify the increment? 6 months in LA, did you learn some new skills?
does watching Lakers games count? =)

Soren_H
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Post by Soren_H » Wed, 08 May 2013 8:08 pm

Wd40 wrote:Considering the Title "Senior manager" I would say the pay is on the lower side. Is it an AVP or a VP role? The salary seems to be okayish for an AVP role.

If the British bank you are talking about starts with a B, I am a bit familiar with it :) I dont work there though and I work in IT as a developer

If the bank indeed starts with B, then they do provide the equivalent of Employer contribution($800) to CPF to a private pension fund and you need to contribute $1000 as well.

Starts with H......

Thanks mate!

Soren_H
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Post by Soren_H » Wed, 08 May 2013 8:10 pm

JR8 wrote:It sounds light to me. Put it like this, I had a similar'ish profile to you (but Wall street bank, internal relocations) and was offered more than you have been (as a whole package)... *and* that was 20 years ago! Please don't think I'm bragging, as I am sincerely not. That was little more than I'd have earned 'on a cost-adjusted basis' back home at that time in London.

As a starting point why not try and view/review some jobs ads/available in Singapore, to try get a level for what your skills/ position are worth locally?

Maybe many more talented westerners are willing to make such a move, as opposed to back in my days... but, somehow I doubt it. You need to look at this very carefully, that's my advice!

good luck
Again really appreciate your comments!


I will seriously consider this offer while applying other roles in SG.


Cheers!

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Re: seek advice on package (banking)

Post by BillyB » Wed, 08 May 2013 8:59 pm

Soren_H wrote:Hi,

I have just received an offer from a british bank in Singapore. Am not sure should I take it considering there is no relocation allowance. I have never been to SG so your advice is highly appreciated!

Here is the offer details:

Salary: SGD9.4K
Title: Senior Manager, Portfolio Management
Industry: Banking
Reloaction Allowance: None
Terms: Local contract
annual leaves: 25 days


About me:

30 Male Single, Danish
5 yrs banking experience(Risk / Capital Management) in London. 1 yr in HK. 1 yr in Amsterdam.


Does the aforementioned package fairly reflect my experience and the market benchmark in SG?

9.4k is slightly below my expectation but I do consider the experience in SG valuable to my CV.

What do you think?


Much Appreciated!

Soren
It's par the course (local contract) if not a bit on the low side, but portfolio management is a very good area to be in with CVA / anything collateral related being hot topics at the moment. It's one of the few areas in banking that is spending and spending big, and, with increased regulation and capital constraints, will continue to spend for the next 3-5 years

You'll also have good opportunities with 'H' to zip around the region.

My advice is take it and I'd be quite confident that once you have a couple of years with 'H', opportunities will open up in North Asia / China when they start to play catch up in that space.

Soren_H
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Re: seek advice on package (banking)

Post by Soren_H » Wed, 08 May 2013 9:34 pm

BillyB wrote:
Soren_H wrote:Hi,

I have just received an offer from a british bank in Singapore. Am not sure should I take it considering there is no relocation allowance. I have never been to SG so your advice is highly appreciated!

Here is the offer details:

Salary: SGD9.4K
Title: Senior Manager, Portfolio Management
Industry: Banking
Reloaction Allowance: None
Terms: Local contract
annual leaves: 25 days


About me:

30 Male Single, Danish
5 yrs banking experience(Risk / Capital Management) in London. 1 yr in HK. 1 yr in Amsterdam.


Does the aforementioned package fairly reflect my experience and the market benchmark in SG?

9.4k is slightly below my expectation but I do consider the experience in SG valuable to my CV.

What do you think?


Much Appreciated!

Soren
It's par the course (local contract) if not a bit on the low side, but portfolio management is a very good area to be in with CVA / anything collateral related being hot topics at the moment. It's one of the few areas in banking that is spending and spending big, and, with increased regulation and capital constraints, will continue to spend for the next 3-5 years

You'll also have good opportunities with 'H' to zip around the region.

My advice is take it and I'd be quite confident that once you have a couple of years with 'H', opportunities will open up in North Asia / China when they start to play catch up in that space.

True. But the thing is in general the experience you get from H has nothing much to do with wall street banks (assuming you wanna go back to "i-bank" ultimately).

Well it is what it is.....I will see how's the SG job market like meanwhile....salary wise i need to think twice about taking the offer......

Thanks mate!

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Post by PrimroseHill » Thu, 09 May 2013 10:30 am

I am surprised that H is paying this low, I thought they generally pay quite well. Even within H, it depends on a few factors that determine the pay scale, the division - i.e. investment banking, capital markets, private banking etc etc.
I believe that plain vanilla investment banking/equity arent great payers at the moment but the derivatives market; now thats a different ballgame altogether.
H, are they truly British these days? :D

Soren_H
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Post by Soren_H » Thu, 09 May 2013 3:45 pm

PrimroseHill wrote:I am surprised that H is paying this low, I thought they generally pay quite well. Even within H, it depends on a few factors that determine the pay scale, the division - i.e. investment banking, capital markets, private banking etc etc.
I believe that plain vanilla investment banking/equity arent great payers at the moment but the derivatives market; now thats a different ballgame altogether.
H, are they truly British these days? :D
I really don't know.....at least the hiring manager is British. Does that make any difference? It's global village now innit? =)

In ur mind how much should I ask for?

Cheers!

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