TALENT BEYOND THE TOP
Mr Kher Sheng Lee, co-head for Asia Pacific at the Alternative Investment Management Association, likened senior investment professionals such as portfolio managers to “race car drivers”. But a much larger team sits behind each driver.
“The jobs are in the garage, the corporate offices, the research labs,” he said.
These include analysts, traders, risk and compliance professionals, as well as operations and technology teams. A broader ecosystem of fund administrators, prime brokers, lawyers and auditors also supports their work.
Singapore’s asset management industry employs close to 25,000 people, about 80 per cent of whom are locals.
Observers say the issue is not a general shortage of finance professionals, but a scarcity of talent at the very top – people with specialised expertise and long investment track records.
Financial centres around the world are competing for the same small pool.
“The talent we’re looking at is very scarce. Scarcity at the very top of the game is a global challenge,” said Mr Lee, adding that financial centres such as New York and London face the same challenge.
Investing requires not only technical skill but also the temperament to make difficult calls under pressure, he said. “You’re making judgment calls with other people’s savings, their investments. That’s a very important heavy obligation.”
Such qualities can take years – and several market cycles – to develop, he added. “That’s why these people are highly sought after.”
Singapore’s strategy is to bring some of these experienced professionals here, then build teams and investment activities around them.
Professor Lawrence Loh of the Department of Strategy and Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School described the approach as “anchor first and then multiply after”.
“We are not looking at just them as persons. In fact, we are looking at the whole sector, the whole value chain or pipeline,” he said.