FINCAREER

Hedge Fund Numbers to Shrink Greatly

The number of hedge funds operating globally will shrink sharply over the next five years as rising cost structures and short-lived market trends divide the industry between boutiques and very large multi-strategy funds, the head of Tribeca Global Management said. Read the full story published by Reuters.

Why New Hires Fail

According to a new study by Leadership IQ, 46% of newly-hired employees will fail within 18 months, while only 19% will achieve unequivocal success. But contrary to popular belief, technical skills are not the primary reason why new hires fail; instead, poor interpersonal skills dominate the list, flaws which many of their managers admit were overlooked during the interview process.

Beyond Grey Pinstripes

Most of us are familiar with the regular leading business school rankings published by Business Week or The Financial Times. However, the results of such rankings look quite different when the selection criteria are based on how cutting edge they are at incorporating environmental and social impact management. Here are the top five schools: George Washington, Michigan, North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler), Stanford, Yale & York (Schulich). Go to www.beyondgreypinstripes.org to view the complete 2003 findings provided by the World Resources Institute and The Aspen Institute. An update would be welcomed!

The Most Prestigious Wall Street Firms

According to the 550 banking professionals surveyed for the 2006 Vault banking employer prestige rankings, the following 10 firms in commercial and investment banking made it to the top of the list:

Goldman Sachs (1), The Blackstone Group (2), Morgan Stanley (3), Lehman Brothers (4), Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (5), Lazard (6), Merrill Lynch (7), JPMorgan Chase (8), Citigroup Inc. (9), Credit Suisse Corporate and Investment Banking (10). Read full details.

INSEAD and Citigroup launch FinEdx

Earlier this month, INSEAD, the leading global business school, and Citigroup, the leading global financial services company, officially launched a new regional learning hub, the Financial Education Exchange or ‘FinEdx’, dedicated to improving financial literacy levels in Asia Pacific. The first of its kind in the region, FinEdx is an on-line knowledge and learning portal designed to support the financial education community, and increase the number, quality, and accessibility of teaching programs so that more people are able to make sound financial decisions. FinEdx is funded by a grant from the Citigroup Foundation, and access to FinEdx will be free for the first year.

Swiss Investment Professionals among the best paid in the world!

According to a survey released recently by CFA Institute and Russel Reynolds Associates, Swiss investment professional's annual pay packets are some 10% bigger than those of their global peers.

Let the Economist guide you...

Atlanta, Berlin, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Washington, Zurich.

If you are traveling on business to any of these destinations in the near future, we recommend that you check the online Cities Guide launched by the Economist.com. Tailored to the needs of busy business travelers, the best of each city is just a few clicks away.

Have you been googled today?

According to a recent Execunet survey of recruiters, 74.7 percent of respondents said that they used search engines to uncover information about candidates. It is recommended that you know what they may find about you before they do and act honestly about it.

Further consolidation in Swiss Private Banking

After weeks of speculations about Julius Baer possibly being a take over target, the Swiss bank turns out to be a consolidator in the Swiss private banking market. According to swissinfo, Julius Baer has acquired from UBS the SBC Wealth Management unit comprising of GAM and three other private banks. The speculations will now focus on the future of Sarasin following the recent departure of its CEO.