HEADHUNTERS POLL
Talent-finders adapt to tough times
Staff at banks have been on the front line as far as the global financial crisis is concerned,
with bonuses slashed and entire teams of people let go. It was a challenging environment
for the region’s recruiters too, with firing strongly outstripping hiring. Richard Morrow
examines firms that have prospered in the toughest year in a decade.
I
In the financial industry, headhunters tend to make hay
while the sun shines. Unfortunately, 2008 was a distinctly
overcast year, and the coming 12 months look darker still.
As news of spiralling sub-prime losses emerged and the
cost of debt surged, bank after bank found itself contemplat-
ing a bleak outlook for 2009. And in a people-intensive
industry, one of the first costs to consider is the huge sums
being paid to its stars.
For the industry’s recruiters, this has been a mixed bless-
ing. On the bright side, highly skilled professionals who
were once completely uninterested in moving jobs are now
either out on the street or restless as they face the prospect
of greatly reduced compensation. That has offered
recruiters a swelling pool of talent that they can offer their
clients.
Yet there is very little desire to hire among banks or
funds, as they prioritise cost cuts. Only the occasional
opportunity to upgrade personnel is presenting itself at the
moment. As a result, most of the region’s headhunters have
seen their revenue streams collapse from an admittedly
record 2007. Some estimate drops of more than 50%.
But if Asiamoney’s Headhunters Poll 2009 is anything to
go by, the services of a good recruitment firm are being
viewed by senior decision-makers as of unprecedented
importance. We recorded 725 valid responses from senior
executives in the Asia-Pacific region, all of whom have hir-
ing power. It easily our largest response level ever, nearly
double the number of last year.
This increased response has led to some surprising
changes in the rankings of headhunters and recruitment
firms in our poll. The unpleasant environment has evidently
forced many banks to reconsider which firms will continue
to deliver.
METEORIC RISES
The most notable company winner is Wellesley Partners,
which is still one of the region’s fresh-faced recruitment
agencies. It jumps from sixth place overall in 2008 to be
voted the top headhunting firm for Asia ex-Japan.
The 11-strong company was only set up in 2005, but in
less than four years it has gained a lot of ground. Wellesley
tops the company categories of investment banking, prime
broking, and fixed income and comes second in derivatives
and structured products.
Many of its staff are widely admired. Christian Brun
retains his hold as the top individual headhunter for invest-
ment banking; Loretta Chan once again is voted the best
individual for fixed income, debt, treasury and debt capital
market people moves; and Sophie Pasha is voted the best
headhunter for prime broking coverage.
Brun believes the secret of the firm’s success lies in hav-
ing very strong ties to a small group of partners. “We’ve
stuck to our approach and worked with select clients with
asiamoney.com
whom we do as much as possible,” he says. “Some of our
competition may have spread themselves too thin.”
Many boutique firms will only work on a retainer basis
for senior hires, restricting their deal flow in tougher times.
Other firms adopt a contingency strategy, only being paid if
the candidates they submit are accepted, and tending to
accept lower rates. “We try to place a lot of people for one
client and build a whole team, instead of just one senior
member,” says Brun.
Just as impressive as Wellesley’s performance is the
meteoric rise of Matthew Hoyle International. The man in
charge of his eponymous firm was voted the best overall
headhunter in Asia, while he and his company topped a
broad array of categories, including cash equities, deriva-
tives and structured products, bank and finance technology.
Additionally, Hoyle was voted the best headhunter for buy-
side and hedge funds, private equity, and middle/back
office coverage. It’s an impressive breadth of nominations.
For private banking, newcomer Lionrock International
steals the limelight. Alice Liu, formerly of Pelham Search
Pacific, set the company up in the second half of 2008.
Despite the move she maintained her hold on the title of
Asia’s best private banking headhunter, and was also voted
the second-most popular headhunter overall, according to
our poll respondents. She keeps industry admired Philip
Eisenbeiss of Executive Access in second place.
Market stalwart Executive Access has seen its rankings
slip over the year. It continues to head private equity,
although Anita Chan of the firm is voted second best head-
hunter. Meanwhile veteran headhunting firm Global Sage
heads up buy-side and hedge funds coverage, although May
Koon is pipped at the post by Hoyle and takes second spot
for the individual nomination.
JAPAN’S WINNERS
Japan’s headhunting market has seen less of a sea-change in
the most impressive firms. Eban still impresses our voters
the most and is the country’s top-rated firm overall,
although Simon Hayes drops from top spot to fourth this
year.
Eban retains its number one position for cash equities
coverage, investment banking and buy-side/hedge funds
too. Hayes is voted the best headhunter for investment
banking in this part of the industry.
Instead, Matthew Miller of Global Sage rises from sixth
in 2008 to take the top overall individual position this year.
He is also voted top headhunter for fixed income and deriva-
tives and structured products, while his firm is voted top in
these two categories as well.
However, despite his impressive performance, Miller
confesses: “Being voted number one is a bit of a surprise to
me. The way I personally work is to develop very close part-
nerships. But given the way the market fell this year, I think
35
HEADHUNTERS POLL
my good standing in the poll was due to standing by our
clients and making sure they really trust me, almost becom-
ing part of management infrastructure.”
T2 Tokyo and its representative Bruce Lepore top our
first coverage of bank and finance technology recruitment in
Japan. The firm also takes first place for middle and back
office coverage, while James Graham and Hiroshi Kurosaka
take the top two individual spots in this field, respectively.
Kojiro Nojiri of Tiglon Partners is voted the top individual
for cash equities, just beating Simon Spencer of Spencer
Associates, although he does come first for buy-side and
hedge funds coverage. And while Robert Walters is the com-
pany voted best for human resources, it is the individual
Neal Walters of Wall Street Associates who takes the individ-
ual plaudits for this area.
FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
The winners of our Headhunters Poll 2009 all deserve praise
for impressing their clientele and candidates in the midst of
woeful market conditions.
Banks continue to labour under counterparty pressures
and colossal funding problems, and there is no sign that
financial markets will improve any time soon.
This has led to the banks slashing their once-lucrative
annual bonuses. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the
Wall Street stalwarts, are understood to have pared back
their pay packets for managing directors by 60% to 70% on
average, and dropped their bonuses for medium-level staff
by 40% to 50% and for vice-presidents by 30% to 40%
down, respectively.
Meanwhile, there is almost a daily flow of news about job
cuts. Citi, HSBC, J.P. Morgan and the newly formed Bank of
America/Merrill Lynch announced global redundancies
totalling tens of thousands over the last three months, and
all investment banks have had to chop back their teams. Asia
has been spared the worst of this but it has still been impact-
ed as revenues dry up.
Many bankers, some mediocre, others very good, ended
up on the street, while those still in employment are fuming
that their hard work is not being remunerated with the
annual cash bonanza that they had become used to. Many
would love to shift jobs, but while the supply of quality can-
didates has never been greater, the job opportunities remain
slim.
Virtually the only exception to this shedding of jobs has
been the emerging markets-focused Standard Chartered,
and even it has very finite ambitions.
DO OR DIE
But just as banks continue to close, consolidate or shed jobs,
so the region’s recruitment advisers are thinning out as the
focus on firing rather than hiring hits their bottom lines.
In May 2008 Akamai, which had previously been better-
known as Alexander Mann, collapsed, and shortly after-
wards so did Whitney Group. Headhunters privately confess
to worrying about the coming year.
“If you’re a very small entrepreneurial firm you may be
okay, as you can tailor yourself to what a client wants,” says
one senior recruiter.
“And if you’re a global player you may have the resources
to survive. Mid-sized boutique firms with sizeable over-
heads will struggle and could fragment, as we’ve already
seen.”
36
The most surprising development in Asia’s recruit-
ment circles in 2008 was the aggressive expansion of
global recruitment consultant Heidrick and Struggles
into the region. The US firm splurged huge sums of
money to bring together a triumvirate of arguably the
most senior team of investment banking and markets
headhunters in the region.
Whitney old-hand Harry O’Neill started at the begin-
ning of 2008 as head of its Asia financial markets, then
hired ex-Asia Akamai head Daren Kemp in July, and final-
ly agreed to employ the much-respected Stephen
McAlinden from Eban, the company he helped to form in
the mid-1990s, in late 2008.
Combined, the three men are believed to be costing
Heidrick several million US dollars a year, so the firm is
taking a big bet on these three, especially given that in
January it announced a 12% overall cut in staff globally
via restructuring.
Asiamoney’s Headhunter Poll winners such as
Wellesley, Matthew Hoyle, Eban and Global Sage cannot
boast Heidrick’s resources. That means they will have to
rely on what has made them stand out so far: nimbleness
and fresh ideas.
“We are small and lean versus some of the big head-
hunters, and there is nobody we can afford to lose,” says
Wellesley’s Brun. “But we’re not resting on our laurels.
We’re taking advantage of what transfer opportunities
exist and are focused on doing very specific searches for
our clients.”
The firms that will survive the next 12 months will
also have to consider branching out beyond pure people
placement.
“We are doing consulting fees and we’ll aim to do
more of that sort of work. There are advantages to doing
that,” says Global Sage’s Miller. This consulting work
consists of cost analysis, headcount analysis, staff effi-
ciency discussions and management counselling. “We
can do what McKinsey does but don’t charge half a mil-
lion dollars for it,” he says.
Heidrick evidently has similar ambitions. The firm
just announced plans to raise its leadership advisory
business from 4% to 40% of the firm’s revenues in five
years.
There are valid reasons for this emphasis on alterna-
tive revenue sources. The true worry for all boutique
financial recruitment firms is that the global financial
crisis has killed off their once-lucrative retained business
models for good.
With no sign of an end in sight to the financial crisis,
banks will have very small hiring needs for a year at least.
And they have never faced so much pressure to reduce
the amounts that they pay their bankers. As these institu-
tions seek to trim costs, expensive retained searches are
going to become a lot less popular. That is bound to have
a huge impact on the money that the headhunters relying
on such searches make, and that in turn will force them
to drop their rates, pressurising them even more.
As the region’s investment banking and fund manage-
ment industries continue to go through the wringer, the
companies represented this year will also be impacted.
The stormy financial weather is going to claim several
more recruitment firms before it is done. And the sur-
vivors are likely to look very different from today.
FEBRUARY 2009 ASIAMONEY
 Best headhunters for 2009
Asia ex-Japan
Best Headhunting Firms Best Headhunting Executives
(Accumulation of all categories) (Accumulation of all categories)
RANK 2008 FIRM % RANK 2008 NAME FIRM %
1 6 Wellesley Partners 8.68 1 3 Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 9.68
2 11 Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 7.97 2 2 Alice Liu Lionrock International 5.12
3 1 Global Sage 5.36 3 7 Christian Brun Wellesley Partners 3.33
4 13 Profile Search & Selection 4.87 4 1 May Koon Global Sage 3.30
5 7 The Laurus Group 4.85 5 - Nick Green The Laurus Group 2.57
6 4 Webbe International 4.50 6 12 Aaron Stewart Pemberton Stewart 2.54
7 5 Executive Access 4.21 7 10 Loretta Chan Wellesley Partners 2.27
8 - Lionrock International 3.59 8 - Nick Henderson Wellesley Partners 2.23
=9 2 Pelham 3.35 9 6 Philip Eisenbeiss Executive Access 2.20
=9 15 Heidrick & Struggles 3.35 10 - Paul Quinn Nisus Executive Search 2.06

Japan
Best Headhunting Firms Best Headhunting Executives
(Accumulation of all categories) (Accumulaton of all categories)
RANK 2008 FIRM % RANK 2008 NAME FIRM %
1 1 Eban 8.65 1 6 Matthew Miller Global Sage 6.69
2 4 Robert Walters 8.57 2 3 Simon Spencer Spencer Associates 5.99
3 2 Global Sage 7.74 3 =9 James Graham T2 Tokyo 4.34
4 16 T2 Tokyo 7.00 4 1 Simon Hayes Eban 3.76
5 3 Spencer Associates 6.01 5 =14 Kojiro Nojiri Tiglon Partners 3.64
6 8 Morgan McKinley 5.02 6 7 Steven McCrindle Eban 3.29
7 10 Heidrick & Struggles 4.37 7 - Junko Kannami Morgan McKinley 2.70
8 6 Tardis Group 4.04 8 - Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 2.23
9 9 Wall Street Associates 3.71 =9 8 Kevin Lim Spencer Associates 2.11
10 - Tiglon Partners 2.97 =9 =4 John Wright Global Sage 2.11

asiamoney.com 37
HEADHUNTERS POLL
ASIA EX-JAPAN BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
CASH EQUITIES Rank 2008* Name Firm %
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS 1 Sophie Pasha Wellesley Partners 30.36
Rank 2008 Firm % 2 Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 26.79
1 5 Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 10.96 3 Sarah Arblaster Sheffield Haworth 8.93
2 3 Pelham 10.18 * Results not published in 2008

3 1 Global Sage 7.63

PRIVATE BANKING
BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
Rank 2008 Name Firm % Rank 2008 Firm %
1 2 Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 12.63 1 - Lionrock International 26.12
2 3 Justin McLennan Pelham 11.36 2 2 Executive Access 12.95
3 7 Nick Henderson Wellesley Partners 7.83 3 6 ExecCapital 6.70

FIXED INCOME / DEBT / TREASURY / DCM BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES

BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS Rank 2008 Name Firm %
Rank 2008 Firm % 1 1 Alice Liu Lionrock International 29.97
1 =7 Wellesley Partners 13.27 2 2 Philip Eisenbeiss Executive Access 12.92
2 - Pemberton Stewart 11.48 =3 - Paul Quinn Nisus International Search 7.75
3 =2 Global Sage 6.89 =3 5 Rachel Yin ExecCapital 7.75

BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES BUY-SIDE / HEDGE FUNDS

Rank 2008 Name Firm % BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
1 1 Loretta Chan Wellesley Partners 16.16 Rank 2008* Firm %
=2 2 Aaron Stewart Pemberton Stewart 8.08 1 1 Global Sage 13.36
=2 - Phil Pemberton Pemberton Stewart 8.08 2 =3 Webbe International 8.02
3 - Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 7.35
DERIVATIVES / STRUCTURED PRODUCTS (ALL PRODUCT AREAS) * Buy-Side / Hedge Funds = 2008 ranking of Buy-Side / Hedge Funds / Private Equity

BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS

Rank 2008 Firm % BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
1 2 Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 17.18 Rank 2008* Name Firm %
2 - Wellesley Partners 12.02 1 - Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 9.59
3 - Pemberton Stewart 7.44 2 1 May Koon Global Sage 9.01
3 5 Jeremy Harris Wellesley Partners 7.85
BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES * Buy-Side / Hedge Funds = 2008 ranking of Buy-Side / Hedge Funds / Private Equity

Rank 2008 Name Firm %

1 1 Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 19.95 PRIVATE EQUITY
2 2 Aaron Stewart Pemberton Stewart 7.98 BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
3 - Sophie Pasha Wellesley Partners 7.45 Rank 2008* Firm %
1 Executive Access 13.41
INVESTMENT BANKING / CORPORATE FINANCE / M&A / ECM 2 Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 9.42
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS 3 Global Sage 8.70
Rank 2008 Firm % * Category not polled seperately in 2008

1 2 Wellesley Partners 22.50

2 1 The Laurus Group 19.04 BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
3 6 Eban 6.73 Rank 2008* Name Firm %
1 Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 11.73
BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES =2 Anita Chan Executive Access 6.15
Rank 2008 Name Firm % =2 Jag Dhaliwall Webbe International 6.15
1 1 Christian Brun Wellesley Partners 21.17 =2 Michael Di Cicco Global Sage 6.15
2 2 Nick Green The Laurus Group 13.29 * Category not polled seperately in 2008

3 5 Jason Orange The Laurus Group 7.66

BANK & FINANCE TECHNOLOGY
PRIME BROKING BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS Rank 2008* Firm %
Rank 2008* Firm % 1 Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 15.03
1 Wellesley Partners 26.32 2 Robert Walters 11.40
2 Matthew Hoyle Financial Markets 19.74 3 Profile Search and Selection 7.77
3 Sheffield Haworth 9.21 * Category not polled in 2008

* Results not published in 2008

40 FEBRUARY 2009 ASIAMONEY

 ASIA EX-JAPAN CONT.
BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
Rank 2008*Name Firm % Rank 2008 Name Firm %
1 Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 29.63 1 =3 Matthew Miller Global Sage 18.27
=2 Paul Quinn Nisus International Search 7.41 =2 - Kojiro Nojiri Tiglon Partners 5.77
=2 Sommer Owens Robert Walters 7.41 =2 - Samuel Gilbert Tardis Group 5.77
* Category not polled in 2008

MIDDLE / BACK-OFFICE DERIVATIVES / STRUCTURED PRODUCTS (all product areas)

BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
Rank 2008 Firm % Rank 2008 Firm %
1 - Profile Search & Selection 8.15 1 2 Global Sage 13.07
=2 - Kerry Consulting 7.33 =2 1 Eban 8.54
=2 3 Morgan McKinley 7.33 =2 3 Tardis Group 8.54

BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES

Rank 2008 Name Firm % Rank 2008 Name Firm %
1 1 Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 6.40 1 =6 Matthew Miller Global Sage 14.88
2 - Carol Cheung Hudson 5.20 2 =2 Kevin Lim Spencer Associates 7.44
3 - Audrey Chan Kerry Consulting 4.80 =3 - Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 5.79
=3 1 Simon Hayes Eban 5.79
HUMAN RESOURCES
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS INVESTMENT BANKING / CORPORATE FINANCE / M&A / ECM
Rank 2008 Firm % BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
1 1 Profile Search and Selection 31.35 Rank 2008 Firm %
2 2 Robert Walters 10.81 1 1 Eban 18.75
3 =8 Hudson 5.41 2 2 Global Sage 17.50
3 =9 Russell Reynolds Associates 7.50
BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
Rank 2008 Name Firm % INVESTMENT BANKING/CORPORATE FINANCE/M&A/ECM (CONT.)
1 3 Stuart Elliot Profile Search & Selection 18.45 BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
2 1 Richard Letcher Profile Search & Selection 16.50 Rank 2008 Name Firm %
3 - Matthew Hoyle Matthew Hoyle Fin. Markets 8.74 1 1 Simon Hayes Eban 28.30
2 =3 John Wright Global Sage 15.09
=3 - Jun Hongo Tardis Group 5.66

JAPAN =3
=3
- Kevin Lim
=6 Matthew Miller
Spencer Associates
Global Sage
5.66
5.66
CASH EQUITIES =3 - Mitsuyuki Domoto A-TEN Associates 5.66
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
Rank 2008 Firm % BUY-SIDE / HEDGE FUNDS
1 1 Eban 16.28 BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
2 4 Spencer Associates 9.30 Rank 2008* Firm %
3 - Tiglon Partners 7.75 1 1 Eban 19.26
2 2 Spencer Associates 12.59
BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES =3 =7 Heidrick & Struggles 5.93
Rank 2008 Name Firm % =3 - Tiglon Partners 5.93
=1 7 Kojiro Nojiri Tiglon Partners 12.12 * Buy-Side / Hedge Funds = 2008 ranking of Buy-Side / Hedge Funds / Private Equity
=1 3 Simon Spencer Spencer Associates 12.12
3 =8 Matthew Miller Global Sage 8.08 BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
Rank 2008* Name Firm %
1 1 Simon Spencer Spencer Associates 21.51
FIXED INCOME / DEBT / TREASURY / DCM 2 3 Steven McCrindle Eban 17.20
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS 3 - Kojiro Nojiri Tiglon Partners 8.60
Rank 2008 Firm % * Buy-Side / Hedge Funds = 2008 ranking of Buy-Side / Hedge Funds / Private Equity
1 1 Global Sage 15.94
2 3 Tardis Group 9.42
3 - Tiglon Partners 7.97

asiamoney.com 41
HEADHUNTERS POLL

JAPAN CONT.
BANK & FINANCE TECHNOLOGY BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS Rank 2008 Name Firm %
Rank 2008* Firm % 1 2 James Graham T2 Tokyo 17.96
1 T2 Tokyo 17.09 2 - Hiroshi Kurosaka T2 Tokyo 4.85
2 Robert Walters 16.24 3 1 Simon Spencer Spencer Associates 4.37
3 Wall Street Associates 9.40
* Category not polled in 2008 HUMAN RESOURCES
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS
BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES Rank 2008 Firm %
Rank 2008* Name Firm % 1 =1 Robert Walters 26.26
1 Bruce Lepore T2 Tokyo 19.18 2 =1 Wall Street Associates 10.10
2 Karim Hakam Wall Street Associates 12.33 3 - Profile Search & Selection 9.09
3 Adriana Alexandrescu Executive Search Int’l 9.59
* Category not polled in 2008 BEST HEADHUNTING EXECUTIVES
Rank 2008 Name Firm %
MIDDLE / BACK-OFFICE 1 =1 Neal Walters Wall Street Associates 16.95
BEST HEADHUNTING FIRMS 2 3 Darren Wada Robert Walters 15.25
Rank 2008 Firm % =3 - Junko Kannami Morgan McKinley 10.17
1 3 T2 Tokyo 17.25 =3 =1 Mark Kadillak Hays 10.17
2 1 Robert Walters 14.12
3 2 Morgan McKinley 8.63

METHODOLOGY
In the 9th annual headhunters poll senior executives, key to hiring decisions within Asia-Pacific’s financial services industry, were asked their views of the best
headhunters and recruiters in the region. Asiamoney received 861 completed questionnaires.

Prior to the launch of the poll Asiamoney mapped out a target list of decision makers within key financial institutions and only responses from these individuals
were accepted. During the auditing process Asiamoney further verified responses by speaking directly to respondents; 136 responses were made void due to their
failure to fulfill requirements – 563 relating to Asia ex-Japan and 162 relating to Japan.

The final response breakdown by product area is as follows (some respondents are responsible for more than one product area):

Product Area Individual responses No. of institutions No. of search No. of individuals
represented firms nominated nominated
ASIA JAPAN ASIA JAPAN ASIA JAPAN ASIA JAPAN
Cash Equities 112 29 82 26 59 28 64 23
FI/Debt/Treasury/DCM 92 32 67 24 50 28 50 31
Derivatives/Structured Products 120 45 83 34 68 33 64 30
IB/Corporate Finance/M&A/ECM 113 18 63 18 47 17 48 14
Buy-Side/Hedge Funds 103 35 91 30 51 33 56 23
Private Equity 1 68 - 63 - 45 - 41 -
Prime Broking 1 19 - 17 - 15 - 11 -
Private Banking 1 107 - 76 - 54 - 42 -
Banking & Finance Technology 47 26 37 24 47 21 21 21
Middle-/Back-Office 2 105 54 82 41 61 34 67 52
Human Resources 45 21 40 21 26 15 24 13

1
Results in Japan have not been published due to a lacking response, however votes for the individuals still contribute to their overall scores.
2
Includes Operations, Compliance, Audit, Legal, Marketing & Communications and Financial Reporting.

For each of the eleven product areas polled respondents were asked their view of the three best headhunting/executive search firms and the three best individual
headhunters in the market(s) in which they are responsible for hiring. Three points were awarded to firms/individuals with a first place ranking, two for second
place and one for third. For the overall rankings, Asiamoney calculated the accumulative score for each firm/individual nominated.

Asiamoney would like to thank those who helped design the questionnaire, as well as all respondents for their participation. Extended results of the poll are also
available on our website, www.asiamoney.com.

42 FEBRUARY 2009 ASIAMONEY