Graduate traders are earning salaries of as much as US$400,000 (HK$3.12 million) straight out of school.
But this isn't New York, London or Hong Kong. It's Sydney, where firms including Citadel Securities, IMC Trading and Optiver have established bases, hired rapidly and plan to employ even more.
Elite recruits with math and science backgrounds can command up to that amount.
Sydney has become an unlikely Asia-Pacific hub for tech-driven trading firms, a part of finance that is bucking the global trend of layoffs and pay cuts.
Observers say the city has attracted high-paying roles thanks to a university system that churns out candidates who adapt well to the business, favorable tax policies and a long history in the trading industry.
"Trading firms offer extraordinary grad salaries," said James Meade, head of employability at UNSW Sydney, a top university.
Citadel Securities may increase staff in Australia by 50 to 100 percent over the next two years, according to Matt Culek, its chief operating officer. Dutch rivals Optiver and IMC have also had big expansions and are planning to hire more staff.
"We are excited about the pipeline of talent that we've seen coming out of schools in Australia," Culek said.
The hiring spree is supported by the timezone proximity that allows traders to cover Japan, South Korea and other large Asian markets.
The market-making industry is booming globally, and companies are recruiting outside Australia, too. And it's possible to get similar salaries in some other markets.
But what's different is that some of the firms have made Sydney their Asia-Pacific hub, home to most of their regional employees. Optiver has most of its roughly 500 Asia-Pacific staff in the city.
It has been hiring its biggest ever numbers of graduates and interns in the past few years, according to Tristan Thompson, head of trading for Asia-Pacific.
Still, growth in the region is fastest outside of Australia, he said.
IMC has been in Sydney since 2002 and now counts the city as its Asia-Pacific headquarters. Around 90 percent of its more than 300 employees in the region are based there.
It's planning to add about 60 graduates this year in trading and technology across Asia-Pacific, according to Matthew Benney, acting managing director for Asia-Pacific.
The market-making companies have benefited from a flow of math, science and engineering graduates from the top universities, such as the University of Sydney, UNSW Sydney and the University of Melbourne. Traders say graduates hired from Australian schools excel at handling the kind of issues they face in the job.
And the city's sunny weather, beautiful beaches and strong quality of life meant experienced traders were also happy to move there. It "became a lifestyle thing," said John Fildes, a capital markets veteran who now works for Bain & Co.
At Optiver, even the boss went surfing before work.
"My schedule was to get up quite early, be in the water around 6am," said Paul Hilgers, who headed the trading firm's business in Asia-Pacific from Sydney before a stint as Optiver's global chief executive. He is now an investor and consultant.
"Go home and grab a coffee, get on my scooter and ride over to the office. I still miss it."
