City recruitment agency Joslin Rowe reports that London’s investment management sector is suffering from a dearth of candidates and salaries are rocketing as a consequence
May 4, 2007 (Press Release) --
London’s investment management sector is suffering from a dearth of candidates and salaries are rocketing as a consequence, reports City recruitment agency Joslin Rowe.
“In previous years just one particular product area was in demand at any one time”, explains Joslin Rowe manager, Jalpa Chandarana. “For example four years ago there was a huge shortage of fixed income specialists. Nowadays these hot spots have spread and candidates with experience of any product area are highly sought after for investment management jobs.”
This candidate shortage is having a profound effect on investment management recruitment. Counter offers may be common in the investment banking world but they have never been a very distinct feature of the investment management sector, as Chandarana explains, “Traditionally the unwritten rule was investment managers rarely produced counter offers whilst custodians never did. But those old ways of conducting the recruitment process have needed to change because everyone is fishing from the same talent pool. Investment banks are now looking at candidates with an investment management background to plug their own skills shortages, whilst investment managers are also desperately trying to recruit from other investment managers. The end result is counter offers have increased in both their frequency and their amount. For example, I recently had one candidate, who despite securing a performance analyst job with a much higher salary was then counter offered by a further £8,000 by their existing employer. In turn the prospective employer increased their offer again.”
According to Joslin Rowe’s investment management salary survey the average investment management candidate can increase their salary by as much as £5,000 if they move to another investment manager. This is testimony to the strength of current market conditions as two years ago the average increase was much lower, at £3,000. In addition candidates with an investment management background moving into banking will see their salary rise still further. Again this is very different to two years ago when banks rarely considered CVs from a non banking background and candidates often had to take a slight pay cut in order to make the move.
“The sheer volume of current recruitment requirements means clients need to think flexibly. We are seeing a rise in clients recruiting excellent graduates or junior hires for roles that have been open for a while. There is also some evidence of cross training. For example, actuaries have been targeted for performance roles”, advises Chandarana. “But ultimately, if clients want to get the right people on board they will need to speed up their recruitment processes in order to match the investment banks and beat them to the best candidate.”
“In previous years just one particular product area was in demand at any one time”, explains Joslin Rowe manager, Jalpa Chandarana. “For example four years ago there was a huge shortage of fixed income specialists. Nowadays these hot spots have spread and candidates with experience of any product area are highly sought after for investment management jobs.”
This candidate shortage is having a profound effect on investment management recruitment. Counter offers may be common in the investment banking world but they have never been a very distinct feature of the investment management sector, as Chandarana explains, “Traditionally the unwritten rule was investment managers rarely produced counter offers whilst custodians never did. But those old ways of conducting the recruitment process have needed to change because everyone is fishing from the same talent pool. Investment banks are now looking at candidates with an investment management background to plug their own skills shortages, whilst investment managers are also desperately trying to recruit from other investment managers. The end result is counter offers have increased in both their frequency and their amount. For example, I recently had one candidate, who despite securing a performance analyst job with a much higher salary was then counter offered by a further £8,000 by their existing employer. In turn the prospective employer increased their offer again.”
According to Joslin Rowe’s investment management salary survey the average investment management candidate can increase their salary by as much as £5,000 if they move to another investment manager. This is testimony to the strength of current market conditions as two years ago the average increase was much lower, at £3,000. In addition candidates with an investment management background moving into banking will see their salary rise still further. Again this is very different to two years ago when banks rarely considered CVs from a non banking background and candidates often had to take a slight pay cut in order to make the move.
“The sheer volume of current recruitment requirements means clients need to think flexibly. We are seeing a rise in clients recruiting excellent graduates or junior hires for roles that have been open for a while. There is also some evidence of cross training. For example, actuaries have been targeted for performance roles”, advises Chandarana. “But ultimately, if clients want to get the right people on board they will need to speed up their recruitment processes in order to match the investment banks and beat them to the best candidate.”
Email
Print
SPAM
