You’ve heard by now of the sale of some of HSBC’s insurance assets . Europe’s largest bank is selling its general insurance arms in Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico to AXA for US$494m. In addition, Australian firm QBE Insurance Group will fork out US$420m for the general insurance unit of Hang Seng Bank (a 62 per cent subsidiary of HSBC) as well as HSBC’s general insurance business in Argentina.

But beyond AXA and QBE fattening up their Asian presence, what are the implications when it comes to redundancies and hiring?

If past experience is anything to go by, it’s likely that existing HSBC staff will get re-deployed within the new entities. A headhunter, who declined to be named, says: “Just like what happened when Prudential bought over the insurance arm of United Overseas Bank, staff were given the opportunity to move into the new organisation, but some were offered different positions from their original specialty – a similar approach could be adopted here.”

Another recruiter, Patrick Tan, managing director, Key International Search & Consulting, adds: “I am not too certain what will happen to HSBC’s staff, but seeing as the insurance talent pool in Singapore is quite saturated, I won’t be surprised to see AXA use the opportunity to pick up good talent and fill up existing vacancies.”

Are HSBC employees already on the hunt for jobs?

The sale would certainly create some duplication in certain roles. And although a merger can also generate turnover due to fear of instability or change, there won’t be that much movement among HSBC’s current staff just yet, says Tara Robinson, senior consultant, insurance, Morgan McKinley Hong Kong,

“It seems that with pending salary increases, bonus payments later this quarter and early next quarter, most employees in the insurance sector are sitting tight to see what the future holds.”

Tan however, says most insurance professionals are highly sought after, especially those with technical expertise. “Not many people can afford to sit and wait. I won’t be surprised if some other companies have already started approaching these candidates.”

What sort of hiring is expected at the newly-merged firms?

AXA and QBE will probably develop project teams to manage the transition process. This would usually involve some external hiring to ensure the smooth integration of systems, says Robinson. Most critical hires, however, will have to wait until after integration takes place, so the firms can properly evaluate their recruitment needs, adds Tan.

On a separate note, we understand that AXA rewards senior talent fairly well, although not as aggressively as some of its rivals like AIA, Prudential and Great Eastern.