Several firms are hiring remisiers to gear up for a market turnaround
By
Yang Huiwen
CIMB-GK Securities CEO Carol Fong says the company is planning to add about 100 more staff to its base of 300 remisiers and dealers. -- ST FILE PHOTO
OF ALL the professions in demand at the moment, you would think that stockbrokers would be pretty far down the list but not so at local brokerages.
Several firms are in hiring mode for remisiers, keen to sign on fresh talent so they can be geared up for a market turnaround - whenever that might be.
An advertisement placed by CIMB-GK Securities received an overwhelming 300 applicants with 40 eventually taken on and a new recruiting round is about to kick off.
'We're definitely in an expansion drive' as part of plans to scale up retail services, said CIMB-GK's chief executive, Ms Carol Fong. The brokerage plans to add about 100 more staff to its base of 300 remisiers and dealers.
Remisiers are an ageing group, she said. 'If you look at customer profiles, investors are getting younger, so we should be refreshing the sales force to capture that segment of the market.'
The share crash has not deterred brokerages from stepping up recruitment of brokers and remisiers. Other brokerages, including Phillip Futures, Kim Eng Securities, Lim & Tan Securities, UOB Kay Hian and Westcomb Financial Group, are also recruiting.
They are all looking beyond the downturn and seeking to expand their services, despite retrenchments happening across various industries. 'Despite the economic situation, there are still opportunities for interested traders and thus the need to boost our team of brokers to maintain the service level for our clients,' said Ms Grace Chan, Phillip Futures' associate director of marketing and sales channels.
The firm has been consistently expanding its team of brokers over the years. 'There have been more people joining us in this role rather than leaving the company,' she said.
Phillip Futures has more than doubled the pool of brokers, or 'account executives' as they are known, over the past two years, expanding from about 20 to a headcount of almost 50. It plans to further expand the team to more than 60 by the end of this year, said Ms Chan.
Kim Eng, which has about 400 remisiers and dealers, plans to 'continue increasing its pool of remisiers and dealers'. It declined to provide specific numbers.
Read the full story in today's edition of The Straits Times.
