Overview

What is the Finance Associate Management Scheme?

The Finance Associate Management Scheme (FAMS) is a talent development initiative supported by the Financial Sector Development Fund (FSDF). Its objective is to increase opportunities for Singapore Citizens (SCs) to be groomed through structured talent development programmes that can position them well for specialist and leadership roles in the financial services industry.

Under FAMS, FSDF will co-fund salary costs incurred by Financial Institutions (FIs) in the hiring and training of SCs under these talent development programmes.
Eligibility

Applicants

  • Financial Institutions based in Singapore[1]

Programme participants

  • Recent graduates[2] or cross-sector convertees[3] who are SCs

Programme design

  • Programme duration must be at least 6 months to ensure that the hires are sufficiently trained.

  • Programmes will be evaluated based on the following components:
    • Number of job rotations, making up a least 50% of total programme duration

      – For programmes under priority areas [6], rotations must be within the priority area

      – For other programmes rotations can be within or across functions

    • Number of hours of structured training (e.g., classroom training, leadership training, e-learning); and
    • Number of mentorship sessions.

  • Programmes will be considered more favourably if it:

    • Targets hiring and training in priority areas;
    • Incorporates international exposure component, e.g., rotations to international-facing functions based in Singapore or rotations to overseas offices for job shadowing; and
    • Is a new programme set-up (i.e., FI is seeking funding for the first cohort of hires into the programme)

  • Programmes funded under FAMS previously will not be considered if there was high attrition rate or substantial hiring shortfall in the most recent cohort that completed the programme.
    • Applicant is required to address weaknesses or gaps in the programme design and/or hiring projections to be considered for funding.

  • Workforce size of the applicant will be taken into consideration in evaluating programmes.
Funding Support

Funding parameters

  • Funding will be provided for all incremental SCs hired by the FI, up to the total number of incremental hires committed for the year.
    • Incremental SCs refer to SCs hired above the hiring baseline [5], which is determined by the average annual SC hired of the same programme in the preceding 5 years.
  • Only SC hires who complete at least 90% of the programme duration will be funded.

Funding levels

  • Programmes [4] in the following priority areas will be funded based on $2,000 per SC per month, capped at 24 months:

    ​PA1 - Portfolio management
    PA2 - Private banking and wealth management (including family office advisory) [6]
    PA 3 - Research, trading and investment strategy
    PA 4 - Actuarial
    PA 5 - Reinsurance and specialty insurance
    PA 6 - Green finance
    PA 7 - Technology, digital and data analytics

    Please see examples of each PA in the footnote [6] below.

    To qualify as a programme under FAMS’ priority area,

    1. At least two-third of the duration of the programme must be spent on rotations in the priority area(s); remaining duration of the rotations outside of priority areas must be in roles that are relevant to, or will equip SC hires with knowledge and skills in the priority area(s); and

    2. SC hires will be placed in roles within priority area(s) at the end of the programme.

  • Programmes in all other areas will be funded based on $1,000 per SC per month, capped at 24 months.

  • Programmes with at least 3 months of overseas job rotation will be funded an additional S$5,000 per SC per month, capped at 6 months.

     

    Funding cap

  • $500,000 for each FI group[7] for all SC hires committed per calendar year.
Approval and Claims Process

Applications that fulfil all eligibility criteria will be evaluated. Please refer to Section 2 “Eligibility” for details on programmes that will be considered more favourably. 

A one-time claims submission for approved applications shall be submitted by the FI within 3 months upon the cohort completion of the programme.

Please submit claims using the claims forms provided in the Letter of Offer.

How to Apply

Applications are to be submitted within the annual application window (see below), or prior to the programme commencement (whichever is earlier).

Applications submitted on or after the commencement of the programme, or outside of the application window period, will strictly not be entertained.

For programmes commencing in 2024

  • Please submit your application HERE, between 1 January 2024 – 31 March 2024 (“Application Window”).
  • Only for programmes commencing on 1 January 2024, please submit your application on 29 December via this link, submission made on or after 1 January 2024 will not be entertained.

Resources

For more information pertaining to your submission for FAMS funding, you may refer to the PDF copies of the application forms below.

Please note that these PDF forms serve solely as reference materials.

Your applications should be formally submitted through the form accessible here.

FAMS FAQ for FIs (as at Jan 2024) FAMS FAQ for FIs (as at Jan 2024)
Application for new programmes hiring its first batch of cohort Application for new programmes hiring its first batch of cohort
Application for existing programmes that has not received FAMS funding before Application for existing programmes that has not received FAMS funding before
Application for existing programmes with no change in programme design Application for existing programmes with no change in programme design
Application for existing programmes with changes in programme design Application for existing programmes with changes in programme design

Footnotes:

[1]Entities regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (either licensed, approved, registered or recognised; or exempted from being licensed, approved, registered or recognised as listed on MAS FI Directory.

[2] Recent graduates refer to SCs who have graduated within 24 months from the date of hire, from tertiary institutions (e.g., polytechnics, local or overseas universities). 

[3] Cross-sector convertees refer to SCs whose last formal employment (excluding internships and traineeships) was outside of the financial sector.

[4] Refers to FI’s existing programme which has not received funding under FAMS before.

[5] Baseline refers to the average annual SCs hired of the same programme in the preceding 5 years. To illustrate, if the hiring baseline is 10 SCs, the applicant would have to hire and maintain a number above 10 SCs to be eligible for FAMS funding. If the applicant hires 11 SCs, only 1 SC (i.e., the incremental number) will be funded.

[6] Examples of roles in each Priority Area.

PA Areas Roles
PA1 Portfolio management
 
Junior Portfolio Analyst, Investment Manager, Product Specialist
PA2 Private banking and wealth management (including family office advisory) Roles relating to sales, after sales, distribution and relationship manager, Assistant Relationship Manager
PA3 Research, trading and investment strategy Research Analyst, Quantitative Trader, Junior Investment Analyst, Wealth planners
PA4 Actuarial Pricing Actuarial or Reserving Actuarial Specialist
PA5 Reinsurance and specialty insurance Reinsurance and specialty insurance specialist
PA6 Green finance Roles relating to ESG, such as ESG Analyst, Green Finance Manager
PA7 Technology, digital and data analytics Technology Analyst, Data Analyst, Data Engineer, Digital Transformation Officer


[7]
FI entities will be assessed as an FI group as long as (i) there is name-sharing (e.g., ABC Ltd and ABC Singapore Ltd) or (ii) if the FIs’ HR function is centralised.

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