BEIJING (REUTERS) - Credit risk analysts have become hot property in China this year, reflecting both the growing opportunities and hazards in the country's rapidly evolving financial markets.
Chinese state-owned banks had enjoyed a virtual monopoly on lending for decades, but the market has now been opened to new players who need specialists to price in risk as they go into a business fraught with uncertainties.
The economy faces a massive overhang of debt built up during a government-sanctioned credit binge to steer China out of the 2008/09 global financial crisis.
As economic growth slows and puts pressure on companies, fears of widespread defaults mount. The scale of the risk is unclear as much of the financing derives from China's less-regulated shadow banking sector, the third largest in the world.
"People's perception about risk and attitude about risk is really changing," said Mr Jin Wu, vice president at China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co Ltd.
With high-profile defaults putting credit risk "front and centre," analysts are now in high demand, according to Mr Wu.
Bank risk departments and credit rating agencies that meld fresh-faced university graduates into analysts face a horde of firms seeking to poach away their trained talent.
Head-hunters and industry insiders say hiring is up by as much as 40 per cent for credit risk analysts, approval officers and operations staff.
The liberalisation of the financial sector has brought in more competitors to banks, among them upstarts such as peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders and guarantee companies, as well as established players in other fields - like asset managers and insurance companies.
State-owned banks with rigid pay structures are particularly vulnerable to poaching. One of China's top five banks lost 20 to 30 per cent of its risk approval department in Shanghai in the past two years, a source inside the bank said. "The salaries here are too low, many left for trust companies and asset management firms," the source said.
Pay rises are 20 to 30 per cent on average when changing jobs, with lower level analysts commanding 50 per cent raises and smaller increases for senior positions, said Ms Laura Yu, a manager at recruitment firm Robert Walters in Shanghai.
Job-hopping typically slows in the second half of the year because analysts hold out for Chinese New Year bonuses in January or February.
But this year, hiring firms have been willing to buy out year-end bonuses, often equivalent to three to five months salary, to bring in new recruits, said Mr Erick Zhou, an associate director at recruiter Lloyd Morgan in Shanghai.
