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Managed assets rise above US$60b at Man Group

MAN Group Plc, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund manager, said assets under management rose above US$60 billion as clients added more money in the final quarter of 2006 compared to a year earlier and investments gained.

Fund sales reached US$2.5 billion in the quarter, while redemptions stood at US$1.1 billion, London-based Man said in a Regulatory News Service statement yesterday, according to Bloomberg News. Fund performance added US$2 billion to assets. Man had US$56.8 billion under management at the end of September.

Chief Executive Officer Stanley Fink, who steps down in April, has increased Man Group’s assets under management more than tenfold during his five-year tenure. Net client inflows totaled US$1.4 billion in the three months through December, double the US$700 million during the same period a year earlier.

“The good news in the story is the low redemption rate and the sales to private investors,” said Bruce Hamilton, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in London who has an “overweight” rating on the stock.

Man Group said US$34.6 billion of its assets were overseen for individual investors, compared with US$23.5 billion for institutions. Companies benefit from individual investors because they tend to pay higher fees than institutions such as pension funds.

Replacement

During the first six months of the company’s fiscal year, which end in March, Man Group posted net inflows of US$7 billion.

Fink took over Man in 2000 when it had US$4.7 billion of assets. He will be replaced by Finance Director Peter Clarke.

The company took in money even as some of Man Group’s funds underperformed. Its flagship AHL Diversified fund last year gained about 6.4 percent to December 25, undershooting the 17 percent surge of the Morgan Stanley Capital International World Index and the 11 percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Hedge funds typically cater to clients with at least US$1 million to invest, and take larger bets than traditional funds. They usually charge a fee of about two percent for managing money as well as 20 percent of any investment gains.

A Sample New-Hire Survey

One 31-question survey used by Ceridian for its employees. Questions include “How satisfied are you with how the job was described during the interview process compared to what you are actually doing?”
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As part of a solution to deal with employee turnover, Ceridian¡¯s HR department saw an opportunity to increase employee satisfaction and retention and improve its staffing processes. The staffing department created a quarterly survey in (below) to help gather information from each new hire regarding their satisfaction of the hiring process, training, impression of manager, and orientation.
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We appreciate your feedback on this brief survey to help us understand what we¡¯re doing well, and what we need to improve regarding: the interview process, new hire introduction, new hire training, and job specific satisfaction.

The survey has 34 questions and will take you 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Your answers will be kept completely confidential.

Section 1 – Pre-Employment

1. How were you recruited to Ceridian?
Employee Referral
External Recruitment Agency
Ceridian Staffing Department
Re-hire
Worked for previous customer
Other

2. How satisfied were you with the number of on-site interviews with Ceridian?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

3. If dissatisfied, please tell us how many interviews were conducted: _________

4. How satisfied were you with the organization and scheduling of your interviews?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

5. How satisfied were you with the explanation of Ceridian¡¯s benefit program?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

6. How satisfied were you with the length of time it took from the time you applied to the time you were hired?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

7. During the interview process, did you receive a folder with company information?
Yes
No

8. Overall, how satisfied were you with Ceridian¡¯s interview process?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

Section 2 – New Hire Introduction

9. Do you work virtual (off-site)?
Yes
No

10. How did you receive your “first day” new hire orientation?
Teleconference conducted by Ceridian Human Resources associate
On-site
Did not receive ¡®first day¡¯ orientation. If so, skip to question #14

11. How satisfied are you with the first day new hire orientation?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

12. How satisfied were you with the welcome you received from your department?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

13. How satisfied were you with the knowledge and skill of your assigned mentor or co-worker?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
N/A

14. How satisfied are you with your manager¡¯s ability to lead and provide direction to you?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

15. How satisfied are you with the necessary tools (i.e. computer, phone, etc.) provided to complete your job?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

16. How satisfied are you with the time it took to receive your benefits package?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

17. How satisfied are you with the benefits automated enrollment process?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
Section 3 – Training

18. When you were hired, what percentage of your skills matched those required to perform your job?
100% Match
80% Match
50% Match
20% Match
No Match

19. How satisfied are you with the computer-based new hire orientation training?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
N/A

20. How satisfied are you with the flexibility and ease of completing the computer-based new hire orientation training?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
N/A

21. How satisfied are you with the job-specific training opportunities provided by the Learning and Development Organization?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
N/A

22. How satisfied were you with the assistance of your manager in completing your training?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

23. How satisfied were you with the availability of your mentor or co-worker to assist you in completing your training?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
N/A

24. How satisfied are you with the length of time given to complete training during work hours?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
Section 4 – Job Specific

25. How satisfied are you with how the job was described during the interview process compared to what you are actually doing?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

26. How satisfied are you with the review of Ceridian¡¯s Performance Management Process with your manager?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
N/A

27. How satisfied are you with the review of Ceridian¡¯s goals and objectives explained by your manager?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied
N/A

28. Considering everything, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with Ceridian at this time?
Extremely Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Somewhat Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

29. Would you recommend Ceridian as a good place to work?
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree or Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

30. What recommendations do you have that would improve the new hire process?

31. Please share any additional feedback or recommendations you may have.

Career Update: Headhunting

Executive search is about enticing the right person for a job, writes Vivienne Reiner.

HEADHUNTERS can do no wrong in the current economic climate, with a global skills shortage fuelling growth in their industry. Revenues for executive search firms worldwide have grown by 20 per cent each year for the past two years, and indications are very good that 2006 will also be a year of significant growth, according to US-based Peter Felix, president of the Association of Executive Search Consultants.

“Assuming a 20 per cent increase this year, then the market would be more or less back to its peak 2000 level with worldwide revenues at about $8 billion,” Felix says. “Any growth beyond that would take us to new heights.”

Search has experienced strong growth in the past few years because of a war for talent caused by demographic trends in Western countries and high competition for experienced management in new growth markets such as Asia and Eastern Europe. In Australia, the market is quite buoyant across all sectors, and particularly strong in infrastructure and resources. As well, the rate of change in Australian companies jostling to improve position, and mergers and acquisitions, have placed further pressure on the hunt for executives.

Executive search organisations tend to perform searches for senior positions offering remuneration upwards of $150,000-$250,000. But in Australia search is also becoming more common for more junior roles, thanks to the low unemployment rate. Employers are increasingly turning to recruitment agencies to target specific organisations and people to fill positions below the $100,000-mark.
Recruitment agencies with executive search arms, however, can be less research-intensive than headhunting firms that specialise in search.

Rob Pocknee is a partner in Cordiner King, the Australian arm of leading global executive search group Amrop Hever. Cordiner King receives up to 100 unsolicited resumes every week. But the people Cordiner Kings wants are often those well looked after by their employer, or too busy to apply for a new job.

“Sometimes the best candidates will not respond to an advertisement, and in fact that’s probably becoming more and more the norm the higher you go in terms of the job,” he says.
From the employer perspective, it may also be preferable not to advertise an upcoming vacancy, because this could be sensitive. To some people, headhunter is a bad name, suggesting a profession which poaches otherwise happily employed individuals.

But Pocknee believes the best headhunters present the information and leave the next step to the individual. According to Antony Beaumont, country director for Australia of another big global headhunting firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, people targeted for approach are generally ready for a new challenge. It is increasingly common for their companies to respond with a counter-offer, but Beaumont says about 80-90 per cent of people who accept counter-offers and stay put end up leaving within a year.

Beaumont says one of the exciting elements of working in the industry is the potential for finding the right placement that transforms an organisation. He once saw an injection of outside expertise boost a share price substantially. Some headhunters keep unsolicited CVs, but Beaumont says his firm focuses on search rather than collating and managing the numerous requests for work that come its way.

“It’s like a golden age for executive search,” Beaumont explains. “As companies become more international, the potential impact of executives who can really make an impact and drive performance and demonstrate that superior leadership is more marked. There’s more demand for these people and there’s a relatively small pool of them.”

The job of headhunting may sound mysterious, but there is generally a set way of going about the business that guides the profession. The first task is to get a clear brief from the client — perhaps not so easy when it involves a number of stakeholders. Next is to identify possibilities. Headhunters search their databases, speak to sources and specialists, and look at people in similar roles to the brief.

They then act as a mediator between the short-listed candidates and the client. Getting a meeting between the interested parties can be a job in itself, with full diaries and executives often in overseas locations. A change of mind at the last minute can further drag out the process. Searches commonly take three months or more, and are not always successful.

Headhunting can be done by large international executive search firms, boutique firms that may focus on one or two niche markets, or by national recruitment agencies with executive search arms. Larger firms tend to be brought in for appointments at the CEO level or for positions reporting to the CEO, and where candidates are hard to find.

Stakes are high, with executive search firms generally charging up to a third of the position’s first-year salary — (placements resulting from advertising average about one fifth of the salary, and some headhunters charge a fixed fee). One standard headhunters generally set for themselves is to not approach people previously placed for another client. Damon Sharwood, the director of legal search and recruitment agency, Dolman, says the exception is a past placement approaching the agency off their own intitiative.

Sharwood says in some cases people have said in their exit interview that they were headhunted, rather than admitting they had been looking. “It’s happened a few times and we have then had to go back and explain ourselves,” Sharwood says.

How can people increase their chances of being headhunted? As well as approaching agencies, people should raise their profile. Julie Mills, the chief executive officer of Australia’s peak body, the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association Ltd, says in this new era of privacy law headhunters can face hurdles getting information — but there is nothing to stop people posting their own details on the internet.

And Gaby Riddington, senior principal at local recruitment firm Hamilton James & Bruce, which also does executive search, says people can become more visible by presenting themselves as expert in their area — especially beneficial for those who do not network outside the workplace to make presentations at conferences, publish papers or do volunteer work for professional associations.
Riddington says people who are looking for new opportunities should not get complacent, or let their standards drop. And she says it is worth the effort to recommend a suitable person if someone approaches you for help in a search — it’s likely the favour will be returned.

Career:What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?

One of the biggest issues that I see business professionals face day in and day out is: what do I REALLY want to do? If you’re early in your career, you may think you can play the field, try on a few jobs or careers before settling down. But job searching and career planning isn’t exactly like dating. Not taking an active interest in planning what comes next may just leave you permanently behind your peers.

You see, the longer you test the waters, hesitate or fool around, the mre others are getting experience and getting ahead. And it isn’t just about the competition. The more you play the field, the bigger impact your job “first dates” and job “break-ups” will have on your relationships, your confidence and your success.

The best part? Planning isn’t even that hard. Let me help you start attacking that New Year’s resolution to help you figure out what you want to do with your life:

1) Commit two hours
2) Try creating your own personal Career Model
3) Use the model to start a job search

It may seem like it’s more fun to surf Facebook, listen to your i-Pod or search your college town for the best sushi. But I promise you’ll thank me later for making me, make you, get off your butt now.

– Susan Strayer is an HR and business professional, and former career coach, recruiter and hiring manager who has worked with hundreds of Fortune 500 companies. She is the author of The Right Job, Right Now now available from St. Martin’s Press.

Business Manager

reporting to Head of Business, Asia.

company:top global information company in the financial services, media and corporate markets.

Job Description:
This person is to lead the team in China to pursue our Vision ¡°To be renowned as an indispensable partner within investment community contributing independent leading collective investment intelligence to help more investors make better investments.¡±
This will be achieved in China through importantly Research initiatives, as well as other activities such as Sales and Data Production at first place.

Responsibilities:
1.To manage team on various activities to achieve revenue mission by end of 2009.
2.To ensure each functions within the team in China properly work for the vision and mission.
3.To ensure Research capability and activities turning to be monetized
4.To expose to media and market as to gain presence of the Group with building good human network
5.To take initiative role for lobby activities to authorities
6.To work closely with Product/Project group to develop and refine classifications, indices, methodologies

Skills and Qualifications:
Language: Mandarin and English required Bachelor¡¯s degree in finance, economics, business administration, or mathematics required. Advanced degree preferable.
1.Minimum 8 years working experience at institutional investors.
2.Deep knowledge of asset management / funds.
3.Quant econometric/time series mathematics with programming (computing skill) at school or working practice highly preferable
4.Report writing skill in easy-to-read manner for targeting individual investors
5.Good human relationship skill to build good human network within market and teamwork spirit with colleagues required.
6.Good staff management skill required
7.Ability to work under pressure with flexibility and result oriented mentality required

Condition:
Local, relocation grant will be provided

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_eo073sh#dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)
* In the email subject MUST you plus the position name in either En or Ch.

Headhunting Is A $1Bn Industry Now

Outsourced hiring, or hiring through third party recruiters, will be an over $1 bn industry this year. It grew slowly initially, but in 2005-2006, the business saw exponential growth, posting a turnover of Rs 3,922.32 crore, against Rs 630.98 crore in the year before. The industry this year is seen to be growing at about 40 pct. So by the fiscal-end, it would go well past $1 bn, according to a study by the Executive Recruiters¡¯ Association (ERA). The ERA has culled out information on manpower recruitment in consultation with 93 different service tax collection points across the country, the major commissionerates being Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Since recruitment firms pay service tax, the annual figures are arrived at on the basis of the tax paid. The study looked at performance of the recruitment industry for last nine years.

China recruiting tips:12 Questions to Measure Employee Engagement

Do your opinions seem to count? Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important? Have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
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After hundreds of focus groups and thousands of interviews with employees in a variety of industries, Gallup came up with the Q12, a 12-question survey that identifies strong feelings of employee engagement. Results from the survey show a strong correlation between high scores and superior job performance. Here are those 12 questions:

Do you know what is expected of you at work?

Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?

At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?

In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?

Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?

Is there someone at work who encourages your development?

At work, do your opinions seem to count?

Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?

Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?

Do you have a best friend at work?

In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?

In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Shanghai plans to open service sector further

SHANGHAI: The municipality will further open its service sector and aims to lure more foreign investment, Vice-Mayor Zhou Yupeng said yesterday.

The service sector attracted the largest share of Shanghai’s contractual foreign capital last year $9.76 billion, or 67 percent, of the total $14.57 billion invested. The investment was mainly in commerce and real estate.

Total contractual foreign investment in Shanghai surged 5.4 percent year-on-year in 2006.

During yesterday’s briefing on Shanghai’s foreign trade and investment, the vice-mayor said Shanghai would intensify the process of opening-up in 2007, especially in the service sector.

“The municipality will attract more institutions including multinational companies’ global headquarters and regional centers, research and development centers, investment firms and operating centers,” he said.

To further boost investment in the modern and manufacturing-based service industries, foreign-funded financial institutions, forwarders, shipping service providers as well as professional service providers are welcome in Shanghai, he added.

One of the first “service outsourcing base cities” in China, Shanghai will take measures to enhance its service outsourcing business and attract investors.

Foreign-invested enterprises have contributed a lot to the municipality’s economic growth, according to figures from the Shanghai Economic Relations and Trade Commission.

Active participation in the region’s economy in turn has brought considerable profits. In the first 11 months of last year, foreign-funded enterprises in Shanghai reported a combined 1.4 trillion yuan in sales revenue, a year-on-year jump of 12.8 percent, with total profit surging 30 percent.

The foreign-invested companies were major contributors to the municipality’s total output.

In 2006, the combined output value of overseas players accounted for 63.5 percent of the municipality’s total, 66.8 percent of exports and 28 percent of local revenue.

They are also major employers in Shanghai foreign companies had hired 1.68 million personnel by the end of November, about a quarter of the municipality’s total.

Job trends for the new year

By Matt Ferguson
CEO, CareerBuilder.com
Adjust font size:
Editor’s note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.

(CareerBuilder.com) — Is finding a new job on your list of New Year’s resolutions? The market may be in your favor.

Recent reports from the U.S. Labor Department indicate that while the expansion of the U.S. economy is slowing, it is doing so at a reasonable pace, and inflation has steadied.

A moderated, yet stable, job market is expected to carry over into 2007 with gains that will remain strong enough to keep the unemployment rate in check.

University of Michigan economists predict the United States will create 1.5 million jobs in the next 12 months.

According to CareerBuilder.com’s annual job forecast, 40 percent of hiring managers and human resource professionals operating in the private sector report they will increase their number of full-time, permanent employees in 2007, compared to 2006. Eight percent expect to decrease headcount while 40 percent expect no change. Twelve percent are unsure.

Employers are expected to become more competitive in their recruitment and retention efforts in the New Year as the pool of skilled labor shrinks and productivity growth plateaus. Forty percent of employers report they currently have job openings for which they can’t find qualified candidates.

This bodes well for workers who are likely to benefit from more generous job offers, more promotions, more flexible work cultures and other major trends identified for 2007:

No. 1: Bigger Paychecks
To motivate top performers to join or stay with their organizations, employers plan to offer better compensation packages.

Eighty-one percent of employers report their companies will increase salaries for existing employees. Sixty-five percent will raise compensation levels by 3 percent or more while nearly one-in-five will raise compensation levels by 5 percent or more.

Nearly half of employers (49 percent) expect to increase salaries on initial offers to new employees. Thirty-five percent will raise compensation levels by 3 percent or more while 17 percent will raise compensation levels by 5 percent or more.

No. 2: Diversity Recruitment — Hispanics Workers in Demand
Understanding the positive influence workforce diversity has on overall business performance, employers remain committed to expanding the demographics of their staffs.

With the Hispanic population accounting for half of U.S. population growth since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and buying power growing 8 percent annually, one-in-ten employers report they will be targeting Hispanic job candidates most aggressively of all diverse segments.

Nine percent plan to step up diversity recruiting for African American job candidates while 8 percent will target female job candidates. Half of employers recruiting bilingual employees say English/Spanish-speaking candidates are most in demand in their organizations.

No. 3: More Flexible Work Arrangements
Work/life balance is a major buzzword among U.S. employers as employees struggle to balance heavy workloads and long hours with personal commitments.

Nineteen percent of employers say they are very or extremely willing to provide more flexible work arrangements for employees such as job sharing and alternate schedules. Thirty-one percent are fairly willing.

No. 4: Rehiring Retirees
Employers continue to express concern over the loss of intellectual capital as Baby Boomers retire and smaller generations of replacement workers fall short of labor quotas.

One-in-five employers plan to rehire retirees from other companies or provide incentives for workers approaching retirement age to stay on with the company longer.

No. 5: More Promotions
With the perceived lack of upper mobility within an organization being a major driver for employee turnover, employers are carving out clearer career paths.

Thirty-five percent of employers plan to provide more promotions and career advancement opportunities to their existing staff in the New Year.

No. 6: Better Training
In light of the shortage of skilled workers within their own industries, the vast majority of employers — 86 percent — report they are willing to recruit workers who don’t have experience in their particular industry or field, but have transferable skills.

Seventy-eight percent report they are willing to recruit workers who don’t have experience in their particular industry or field and provide training/certifications needed.

No. 7: Hiring Overseas
Companies continue to drive growth by entering or strengthening their presence in global markets. Thirteen percent of employers report they will expand operations and hire employees in other countries in 2007. Nine percent are considering it.

With China’s economy expanding at 10 percent annually and India’s at 8 percent, these two countries are particularly attractive to U.S. companies. Twenty-three percent of employers recruiting overseas report they will hire the most workers in China and 22 percent will hire the most in India.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 2,627 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions), ages 18 and over within the United States between November 17 and December 11, 2006.

Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

With a pure probability sample of 2,627, one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of 2 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies. However that does not take other sources of error into account.

This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

Matt Ferguson is CEO of CareerBuilder.com. He is an expert in recruitment trends and tactics, job seeker behavior and workplace issues.

Foreign trade volume reaches US$500 bln in Guangdong

Chinanews, Guangzhou, Jan. 4 ¨C Statistics show that foreign trade volume of Guangdong Province reached US$500 billion in 2006, compared with $400 billion in 2005.

Private enterprises in Guangdong also developed well last year, and the total number reached 500 thousand. Their industrial value-added had surpassed state-owned enterprises, ranking second among all kinds of enterprises.

Private enterprises also have helped to change the foreign trade style of Guangdong Province. The head of Guangdong Foreign Trade Bureau said that private enterprises have helped to boost the provincial export. Related statistics show that the export volume of private enterprises has reached $41.93 billion from Jan. to Nov. 2006, an increase by 57.7 percent.

Export in Guangdong was dramatic in 2006, with the export volume to Middle East, South America and Africa increasing by 48.9 percent, 59.9 percent and 51.4 percent respectively.