Average salaries in Singapore

[aargon]

Hi all, I am a Malaysian working in the US (graduated here and have been working for 6 years..not quite 30yo yet) at a director(Senior VP) level in an international investment bank. I have requested for a transfer to Singapore but am not sure what the average salary of a director level person in an investment bank is in Spore. Ive seen many postings about IT. I think the bank might try to offer me a "local"(no disrespect) pay based on the fact that I'm Malaysian and that its pretty much going home for me.

Right now I'm pulling about USD200K pretax. Any information would help. Thanks

I would have thought at your level, (SVP/Director), you`d have quite a bit of leverage to negotiate your own package?

I took a 20% pay cut to come here from Japan, but believe what I lose in $$$ I make up for in happiness... something you really cant put a price on.

Money isnt everything.

[calicruisin]

aargon : thanks...that's what it comes down to doesn't it.

i would have had leverage if they asked me to transfer over but i am the one requesting it

[straitz]

Hi all, I am a Malaysian working in the US (graduated here and have been working for 6 years..not quite 30yo yet) at a director(Senior VP) level in an international investment bank. I have requested for a transfer to Singapore but am not sure what the average salary of a director level person in an investment bank is in Singapore. Ive seen many postings about IT. I think the bank might try to offer me a "local"(no disrespect) pay based on the fact that I'm Malaysian and that its pretty much going home for me.

Right now I'm pulling about USD200K pretax. Any information would help. Thanks

Well SVP is not quite Director, but.... It varies between banks but Director level for an investment bank in Singapore seems to be around $200 to $300k Sing basic not including banking bonus or benefits on a local package. Sounds a little weak when converting back to sterling, euro or dollars, but the biggest benefit is that Director level is open to much larger bonuses than SVP and below and then, there is the tax. You can always earn more gross cash in UK and US, but Sing has better tax arrangements and lower cost of living overall, at least compared to Manhattan or London imho, so don't compare nominals - weight it according to net take home pay after tax (around 12% or lower depending on clever accounting). If you can score Director level at your age, then well done!

[SpecialK]

Hello all.

I am looking for some help/information.

All going well I will move to Singarpore between Q1 and start of Q2 2010.

Will look to rent a 1/2 bed condo/apartment is reasonable location ( district 10,11,12,8 ?)

I am told from a couple of people that I will need to command around 7-8K p/m to get by. Is this about right. I work in Ops for MN Bank.

Any tips not just on salary etc will be most appreciative, terms of living, travel food.

Oh and also my GF will be looking for work, currently works in corporate sales for BMW and also runs admin to. Thinking she may get office/admin work so if anyone can suggest tips/where to look contact I will be most grateful.

Thanks

[nakatago]

Hello all.

I am looking for some help/information.

All going well I will move to Singarpore between Q1 and start of Q2 2010.

Will look to rent a 1/2 bed condo/apartment is reasonable location ( district 10,11,12,8 ?)

I am told from a couple of people that I will need to command around 7-8K p/m to get by. Is this about right. I work in Ops for MN Bank.

Any tips not just on salary etc will be most appreciative, terms of living, travel food.

Oh and also my GF will be looking for work, currently works in corporate sales for BMW and also runs admin to. Thinking she may get office/admin work so if anyone can suggest tips/where to look contact I will be most grateful.

Thanks

All your queries have been answered in one form or another. Please use the search function of the forums to find the relevant topics.

[SpecialK]

ok thanks

[sundaymorningstaple]

Your GF will probably be in for a rude awakening. Read some of the threads currently frunning here about trailing spouses (and a gf doesn't even qualify as a trailing spouse so unless she's a bonified common law or de facto spouse, she will have major problems. Admin? There are 250K people in Singapore who can do that, so MOM would never give her a work visa for that kind of job.

As far as costs of living/where to live, travel, food, etc, etc, a search of these threads will give you more than enough information.

[SpecialK]

Your GF will probably be in for a rude awakening. Read some of the threads currently frunning here about trailing spouses (and a gf doesn't even qualify as a trailing spouse so unless she's a bonified common law or de facto spouse, she will have major problems. Admin? There are 250K people in Singapore who can do that, so MOM would never give her a work visa for that kind of job.

As far as costs of living/where to live, travel, food, etc, etc, a search of these threads will give you more than enough information.

I say GF she is my fiance as still to be married. she will get dependant visa through my work to start and a few people in my work said they will put me in touch with a few agency people so hopefully she will find some sort of work. You make is sound like she has no chance. I have not looked at the threads but will take some time later.

Thanks

[nyoneway]

Just wondering... Does anyone know what a Theoretical Physicist with a PhD (German) and no experience in the financial side should be expecting for a salary from MNC banks? Thinking of risk analysis and joining at associate entry level. Will they turn you down if you are over qualified? I only know the pay range in germany which is about 65K Euro (~S$125K). Will they try to match the take home pay?

Thanks!

Just wondering... Does anyone know what a Theoretical Physicist with a PhD (German) and no experience in the financial side should be expecting for a salary from MNC banks? Thinking of risk analysis and joining at associate entry level. Will they turn you down if you are over qualified? I only know the pay range in germany which is about 65K Euro (~S$125K). Will they try to match the take home pay?

Thanks!

If you think you are just going to walk into a high paying, junior banking role like that, just because you have a PhD in physics, I think you need to wake up.

I work with 5 or 6 people with Physics PhDs in my field. I'm sure they'd quit their £25k a year jobs tomorrow, if they could actually just get a £60k a year role with a bank.

My boss was a nuclear physicist at Culham Reactor for 10 years. She earns little more than £30k a year.

Sorry, it's a big university lecturer myth that they tell you, that people with physics degrees/phds are sought after like that.

If you joined a bank, straight after graduation, you could mayb expect a junior role, and earn about £25k a year. You may be earning the money you speak of after maybe 5 years experience.

Sorry, again, there are lots of people in every country on the planet with physics PhDs.

Maybe 1% of them get the oppurtunity you're talking about.

You won't walk into a £65k a year banking job, unless you have vast experience in the field.

Best case scenario, starting at the bottom, and being happy with about £25k

I beg to differ. Perhaps among the highest paying mid-back office job in my industry (Investment Banking) are in Market Risk Management and Quants (Quantitative Analyst http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_analyst). In the US, they commonly make about $200k and upto $1,000,000 a year (see http://www.hrg.net/), but often entry level will start around $100k + bonus. It's also common for Quants to work their way into trading and sales roles.

This sort of role requires an advance degree in math or physics because the financial models used to analyse risks and probability are based on physics. So having a PHD in physics is gold in these mentioned roles.

With that said, I'm not sure how many quant and risk positions are in singapore and what the market is, however, they are highly sort after in the US, particularly in New York.

A useful link (http://www.math.chalmers.se/Math/Grundu ... age_QF.pdf)

[adione]

@SpecialK

seems u already know how to get the pass for ur GF,
btw since I'm the same situation let me suggest u this:
http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal ... visit.html

u need a statement from ur employer that will sponsorship the application
and any other supporting documentation u can provide,
in my case I went to my embassy and asked for an official statement + provided the apt. rental contract we used to have prior moving to SG.

With this pass ur GF can stay in SG as long as your work pass last, she
cannot work though but once she'll gets a job, she will have her own work pass.

And lastly: the LTVP can be issued more than one time, so if ur GF gets a job and thus her work pass and later she loose job and work pass,
she can apply again for the LTVP.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Let me know when she get a "Dependents Pass" from your corporate sponsorship.

[SpecialK]

Let me know when she get a "Dependents Pass" from your corporate sponsorship.

Hi there. I will hear about my contract in the new year. Are you saying this is harder than i will expect. really looking forwad to moving out but worried about how my partner will get on from some of the replies on this

[SpecialK]

@SpecialK

seems u already know how to get the pass for ur GF,
btw since I'm the same situation let me suggest u this:
http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal ... visit.html

u need a statement from ur employer that will sponsorship the application
and any other supporting documentation u can provide,
in my case I went to my embassy and asked for an official statement + provided the apt. rental contract we used to have prior moving to SG.

With this pass ur GF can stay in SG as long as your work pass last, she
cannot work though but once she'll gets a job, she will have her own work pass.

And lastly: the LTVP can be issued more than one time, so if ur GF gets a job and thus her work pass and later she loose job and work pass,
she can apply again for the LTVP.

thanks

[sundaymorningstaple]

Let me know when she get a "Dependents Pass" from your corporate sponsorship.

Hi there. I will hear about my contract in the new year. Are you saying this is harder than i will expect. really looking forwad to moving out but worried about how my partner will get on from some of the replies on this

No, I'm not saying it's harder. I'm saying it's highly improbable. You cannot get a Dependent's Pass unless you are legally married. As long as the relationship is not legal your corporate sponsorship is going to result in her obtaining a LTVP. She cannot work on an LTVP but if she can find a job on her own qualifications, she can obtain her own work visa. If you are legally married, then she would qualify for a Dependent's Pass, this, along with a "Letter of Consent" from MOM (applied for by the prospective employer) will allow her to work without needing a visa, per se, but riding on the back of your work visa and having the same expiry & renewal dates. So if you lose your visa, so does she. Whereas, if she obtains a work visa on her own qualifications, her visa is independent of yours (a benefit if one loses their position to a local further down the line).

If she has good qualifications, she may well find something, but she might have to take a cut from what she is used to because as soon as the employer finds out the spouse already is here on an expat package, the advantage is now in his court (sucks - but that's the way it normally is).

[SpecialK]

Let me know when she get a "Dependents Pass" from your corporate sponsorship.

Hi there. I will hear about my contract in the new year. Are you saying this is harder than i will expect. really looking forwad to moving out but worried about how my partner will get on from some of the replies on this

No, I'm not saying it's harder. I'm saying it's highly improbable. You cannot get a Dependent's Pass unless you are legally married. As long as the relationship is not legal your corporate sponsorship is going to result in her obtaining a LTVP. She cannot work on an LTVP but if she can find a job on her own qualifications, she can obtain her own work visa. If you are legally married, then she would qualify for a Dependent's Pass, this, along with a "Letter of Consent" from MOM (applied for by the prospective employer) will allow her to work without needing a visa, per se, but riding on the back of your work visa and having the same expiry & renewal dates. So if you lose your visa, so does she. Whereas, if she obtains a work visa on her own qualifications, her visa is independent of yours (a benefit if one loses their position to a local further down the line).

If she has good qualifications, she may well find something, but she might have to take a cut from what she is used to because as soon as the employer finds out the spouse already is here on an expat package, the advantage is now in his court (sucks - but that's the way it normally is).

Ok thanks for getting back to me. I will wait and see what package I get as think we will need two of us with an income. Hopefully she will find a job out there. My plan of a late 2010 wedding may need to be brought forward