there have been numerous threads before but people come and go. Im moving from HK to Spore to work for an arbitrage house, would be nice to meet some fellow traders.
I would say HK and Singapore is actually tougher than NYC at the moment. Nobody is hiring and there is talent looking to move to Asia.
Hi Copernicus, I'm interested in your thoughts I'm an NYC trader and I can tell you that conditions are pretty grim here so you must be seeing a really bleak landscape in HK and Singapore. Is that true? Are you happy to be moving to Singapore? I read that Jim Rogers would have preferred for business reasons to be in HK but for quality of life reasons moved to Singapore instead. How hard do you think it would be for a US family to move there (one small child) and start a trading business? Hope this is not prying but is the company in Singapore a hedge fund? A private partnership or prop firm? Thx
I moved to Sing in early '98 just after the Asian currency debacle. Had several interviews with major banks who said they would hire me in a heartbeat if they could, but they were in panicked retrenchment. About 3 months after I left in mid 98 they started hiring like mad, especially expats that had any skills trading derivatives (didn't seem too impressed by equity traders as they had been doing this for quite some time). My point. If you are an experienced trader heading to Sing, just hang for a bit if they are not hiring. They will come out of this before anyone in the region, and are usually aggressive in hiring when they do. Besides, you have Bintan a ferry ride away, great golf and nightlife in KL, and Thai beaches close by as well. Sing rocks for an expat! Especially a single one. Jay
not too sound too pesimistic, but right now it would be next to impossible. asia is not the promised land everyone thinks it is, well at least for now and in my opinion at least for the next 2 years. Also, the expat thing is history, nobody gives these crazy full rides anymore just because you speak fluent english and worked on wall street for a couple of years. HK without mandarin is only for proven producers. I suppose Singpore that is not as important, but still at the moment hiring is pretty much frozen across the board. If you are a senior trader what would be your reason to move to singapore anyhow, you still pay US taxes over certain amount. if you come in on EU passport than it maybe a different story as you would save a lot in taxes.
I am futures trader in Sing. Born and bred here. Just out of curiosity, what do you actually do as arbis? Heard alot about such strategy funds but do not exactly what goes on with such funds? Arbi cash vs index/stocks/spreads/options? If you do not mind spilling some beans, drinks on me.
I've been based in Singapore for 8+ years, and 2 years in HK prior to that. There are more trading opportunities in HK but as Jayford suggested the quality of life in Singapore is vastly superior (especially for a family). Singapore has a benign regulatory environment for funds income tax is sub 20%. Not suprisingly, there are plenty of funds here plus a handful of arcades and prop outfits, but it is a relatively small market, and there have been layoffs in recent times. Having said that Asia hasn't been hit anywhere near as hard as say NYC. For the record Copernicus - they don't speak Manadrin in HK - they speak Cantonese. You say you live there? bolter