International Business Opportunities

Australia could become the favorite destination for outsourcing financial services in Asia.

The report’s findings commissioned by the Federal Government have identified five key advantages to offshoring in Australia:

1. low cost and deep pool of labour

2. low business infrastructure costs

3. stable business environment

4. strategic time zone advantage

5. good quality of life

The report focuses on opportunities in the following financial services:
a. equity research,
b. structured finance,
c. retail banking,
d. actuarial services

The report found specialised financial services staff cost on average 30 per cent less in Sydney than they do in London.

Why should companies outsource in Australia and not in India?

“We have better infrastructure, we have a strong and transparent regulatory and legal framework and a deep pool of accounting, actuarial and analytical skills. Australia is very well placed to provide the high-value-added activities.” said Gary Johnston, executive manager at Axiss Australia, a government body established to position Australia as a global financial services centre in Asia.

Co-author of the report Sriraman Annaswamy, who heads up offshoring advisory firm Swamy & Associates, said a skills shortage in India had led to a rapid rise of professional salaries and reduced its competitiveness. “Indian destinations are not necessarily the cheapest knowledge-processing outsourcing destinations as is conventionally believed” Mr Annaswamy said.

He said people were often surprised to hear it is cheaper to rent office space in Sydney than Mumbai and that office space in Brisbane and Melbourne costs about the same as Bangalore.

( source )