MAS unveils S$400 million in grants for talent in finance, expects over 3,000 net jobs a year for industry
Raphael Lim
THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has unveiled a road map of growth strategies for the financial sector, with projections for over 3,000 net jobs being created per year and for the sector to grow faster than the broader economy.
The new Financial Services Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025, launched by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Lawrence Wong on Thursday (Sep 15), sets out plans for Singapore to deepen capabilities and grow in areas such as sustainable and transition financing, private credit, philanthropy and the digital asset ecosystem.
MAS is also looking to foster a “skilled and adaptable workforce”, and announced that S$400 million has been committed to fund grants in a Talent and Leaders in Finance programme.
Singapore’s central bank estimates that the financial sector will create between 3,000 and 4,000 net jobs on average each year, between 2021 and 2025.
It also projects that the financial sector will grow by an average of 4 to 5 per cent per annum over the same period. This is higher than private-sector economists’ estimates for gross domestic product (GDP) growth – 3.5 per cent in 2022 and 2.8 per cent in 2023 – going by MAS’ survey of professional forecasters released this month.
The latest industry road map builds upon the ITM launched in 2017. DPM Wong, who is also Finance Minister and MAS’ deputy chairman, said they have exceeded the targets set out previously.
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Between 2016 and 2020, the financial services sector grew by an average of 5.7 per cent per annum, exceeding the 4.3 per cent target, MAS said on Thursday. The sector also created an average of 4,100 net jobs each year, above the target of 3,000.
While the financial sector has done well, DPM Wong added that the external environment has become more complex and challenging.
“We are only just recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. But we don’t get to take a breather – we are now entering into a phase of elevated macroeconomic and geopolitical risks,” he said. “Drivers like technology and digitalisation have the potential to transform and disrupt financial markets and services, so finance must also step up and take bold steps.”
The 5 key strategies under the new ITM are: enhancing asset-class strengths, digitalising financial infrastructure, catalysing Asia’s net-zero transition, shaping the future of financial networks, and fostering a skilled and adaptable workforce.
DPM Wong noted that the “most important prerequisite” to achieve the next phase of financial sector development is people. Singapore needs to continue to attract and retain top talent from abroad, while the other part of the talent strategy is to “invest heavily in human capital within Singapore”.
The S$400 million in grants for the Talent and Leaders in Finance programme will be administered by MAS’ Financial Sector Development Fund, and seeks to enable industry professionals to “take up good jobs and advance in their careers”.
This includes developing specialist talents in areas such as sustainability and technology.
Han Kwee Juan, group head of strategy and planning at DBS, said during a panel discussion that the bank has hired over 100 people under the Institute of Banking & Finance’s Technology in Finance Immersion Programme (TFIP) programme.
“There are people who are moving from the banking side into more technical (roles), and we helped that transition to cloud computing, to data analytics,” he said.
DBS cloud engineer Brian Chiong is one such hire. He tapped the TFIP after being laid off from his previous role during the pandemic.
“While I was initially disappointed at being laid off from my previous job at a payments firm, I saw that as an opportunity to reinvent myself,” he said. He noted that the TFIP’s approach of pairing classroom training with a job attachment is helpful for someone new to a tech role, and accelerated his learning by putting theory into practice.
MAS is also looking to do more to develop Singaporean leaders in finance. DPM Wong noted that there are currently more than 3,000 Singaporeans holding senior roles in the financial sector, up more than 80 per cent since 2016.
HSBC Singapore’s chief executive Wong Kee Joo said that beyond having talent come to Singapore, it is also important for Singaporeans to have opportunities to grow their expertise and gain work experience abroad. The bank has taken steps to provide such opportunities for its employees, and recently held an internal career fair for its employees to explore opportunities within Singapore and the global HSBC network.
Apart from the grants for manpower development, MAS announced that S$100 million in grant funding has been set aside over 2021 to 2025 for areas such as green FinTech, climate risk and reinsurance, and solutions for sustainable and transition finance.
Patrick Lee, cluster chief executive for Singapore and Asean markets at Standard Chartered Bank, called the road map “comprehensive and ambitious”.
Said DPM Wong: “We can draw confidence from what we have achieved so far, especially from the results of the first version of the ITM. Even in a complex and volatile world, Singapore can remain a bastion of stability, opportunity and innovation.”
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