Of some 300 financial services professionals surveyed around the world late in 2012 by executive search firm Selby Jennings, more than half said that they expect either economic conditions in their country to improve or at least stay unchanged from the previous 12 months. But 42 per cent expected conditions to worsen.

And the survey of eight financial sectors between 1 and 31 November last year found that financial industry professionals, including wealth management staff in firms such as private banks, were more positive in New York than was the case for their peers in Singapore and London. 

Some 40.5 per cent of Londoners expect economic conditions to worsen, while 26.2 per cent of Singapore-based people said this and 33.3 per cent of New Yorkers took this view. On the other hand, 62.7 per cent of New Yorkers said conditions were improving, greater than in the other two cities.

As far as employment conditions are concerned, some 42.5 per cent of Londoners said the position had deteriorated; 22.2 per cent of Singaporeans took the same view, and 35.3 per cent of New Yorkers did so, the survey, entitled Career Prospects: Market Sentiment and Loyalty.

Globally, the financial sectors where people were most upbeat in terms of market sentiment and confidence were risk management/quant analytics (26.2 per cent); sales and trading (15.4 per cent), and fund management (20 per cent). Only 9.2 per cent of those asked think wealth management sectors improved. (The balance of percentages is explained by the numbers of those who see no change for the coming year.)

“Media interest in financial institutions has resulted in a high level of scrutiny of conduct and a need for regulation; this has caused a sustained push in demand for risk management professionals, explaining the positivity in the sector,” Matt Nicolson, head of risk, at Selby Jennings, said in the report.