Global Markets Hiring in Asia-Pacific: Where firms are investing in talent in H2 2026

Improving market conditions have given Global Markets businesses across Asia-Pacific more confidence to hire, but not to expand. In the second half of 2026, firms are concentrating budget on experienced sales professionals, traders and desk heads who can contribute to revenue immediately, with the strongest activity across Macro, Rates, FX and specialist Equities products.

Key takeaways

• Hiring remains highly selective, with institutions prioritising experienced revenue generators, senior sales professionals, and desk heads over junior talent.
• Banks are selectively expanding Macro and Credit platforms through targeted hires rather than broad team expansion.
• Hedge funds and market makers are increasingly competing with investment banks for experienced derivatives professionals, intensifying competition for specialist talent.
• Equity derivatives, structured products, volatility trading, and financing businesses continue to attract the strongest hiring activity within Equities.
• Macro, Rates, and FX continue to be the most active hiring areas across Asia-Pacific, with Singapore remaining the region's leading market for front-office talent demand.

Global markets hiring is focused on high-impact talent

Rather than pursuing large-scale team buildouts, many institutions are investing selectively in individuals who can bring immediate commercial value through established client relationships, product expertise, and revenue generation capabilities. Across sales and trading functions, firms continue to favour experienced professionals who can deliver results from day one.

Recent movement has been driven by several factors, including ongoing market volatility, departures from sell-side platforms to the buy side, and talent displacement resulting from restructuring across selected institutions. This has created opportunities for firms willing to move quickly on experienced professionals with proven track records.

Macro, Rates and FX remain the strongest hiring areas

Macro businesses continue to drive much of the hiring activity across Global Markets in Asia-Pacific, with demand strongest across Macro Sales, Rates Trading, FX and senior leadership roles.

Based on hiring activity seen by Selby Jennings’ Global Markets teams, Singapore remains one of the most active markets for front-office talent, particularly for experienced professionals who can bring established client relationships, product expertise and a strong commercial track record. 

Periods of market volatility have supported demand for experienced practitioners who can help clients respond to changing market conditions while identifying revenue opportunities. As a result, banks have continued to prioritise senior client-facing sales professionals, experienced traders, and desk leadership talent over broader junior hiring initiatives. 

From our Global Markets hiring desk:

Selective expansion continues across Macro and Credit platforms

While broad headcount expansion remains uncommon, several institutions continue to strengthen strategic areas of their markets franchises through targeted hiring.

Singapore has seen the clearest examples of this, with senior macro hires concentrated among a small number of Asian-based banks actively building out their platforms. Several European and US institutions have kept to a measured approach, focusing only on professionals with strong client relationships and demonstrated commercial impact.

Within Credit, hiring activity has remained opportunistic rather than volume-driven. Demand continues to centre around experienced professionals across:

• Credit Sales
• Credit Trading
• Structured Credit
• Securitised Products

Looking ahead to 2027, we expect this selective approach to continue. Firms are likely to remain disciplined on headcount, while continuing to invest in areas where experienced hires can strengthen client coverage, product capability and revenue generation. For candidates, this means technical expertise and an established client network will remain key differentiators.

Equities hiring is increasingly concentrated in specialist product areas

Asia’s sell side equities market has shown renewed momentum in 2026, with hiring concentrated in specialist areas such as equity derivatives, ETF market-making, structured products, prime finance and electronic trading. Rather than broad headcount growth, firms are targeting professionals who can capitalise on higher trading volumes, identify unique trading opportunities and deliver increasingly sophisticated risk management and investment solutions to clients.

Over the past few months, Selby Jennings consultants across Asia-Pacific have seen this translate into more targeted hiring across derivatives, financing and electronic trading. Demand has remained strongest for professionals with specialist product knowledge, established client relationships and a proven ability to generate revenue.

The hiring trend has been supported by a recovery in Asian equity markets, particularly in Hong Kong, where IPO issuance has rebounded strongly and investor interest in technology, AI and China-related themes has driven activity across both cash equities and derivatives. Hong Kong recorded its strongest first-half IPO market in five years, supported by a surge in A+H and technology listings and a growing pipeline of companies preparing to go public.

While derivatives and financing businesses accounted for much of the specialist hiring, Chinese and global banks and securities firms have also been actively adding cash equities sales and sales trading talent as they look to strengthen institutional client coverage and capitalise on increasing investor participation in the region. The movement of talent between investment banks, Chinese brokerages, hedge funds and proprietary trading firms highlight the value placed on specialist expertise, strong client relationships and proven revenue-generation capabilities. As equity capital markets continue to recover, our consultants expect firms to remain selective, while continuing to invest in experienced talent that can turn improving market activity into business growth.

What this means for employers

Competition for experienced Global Markets professionals remains intense, particularly across Macro, Rates, FX, Credit, and Derivatives businesses.

Improving market conditions are giving firms greater confidence to invest in talent, but the competition for experienced hires is also increasing. Employers remain selective with headcount, focusing on individuals who can bring a differentiated skillset, strong client relationships or the ability to generate revenue in areas such as derivatives, electronic trading and structured solutions.

As activity levels continue to recover, attracting and retaining top performers is likely to remain a key priority into 2027.

What this means for Global Markets professionals

For professionals, the market is creating more opportunities, particularly for those with specialist expertise and a proven commercial track record.

While firms remain disciplined on overall headcount, they are willing to compete aggressively for talent that can help capture trading flows, win client business and capitalise on improving capital markets activity. This is evident across derivatives, trading, financing and increasingly within cash equities coverage teams.