Philip Seager, MD of Alan Mitchell, predicts an increase in hiring into Front Office banking reflecting the increased optimism in the market as a whole.
Front office banking has felt the full impact of the economic downturn over the last 18 months to 2 years with many rounds of redundancies, recruitment freezes and an ever changing employer landscape with many institutions merging or going under. However, we experienced a definite increase in the number of jobs taken on and candidates finding new roles over the last couple of months in 2009 as illustrated below:
Alan Mitchell Jobs Registered in 2009:
Quarter 1: 76
Quarter 2: 65
Quarter 3: 119
Quarter 4: 133
This apparent increase in recruitment does need to be treated with caution, with bonuses still to be announced and the impact of the bonus tax yet to be realised. However, there is little doubt that 2010 will be a stronger, more positive year than 2009 but to what extent will be seen over the next couple of months.
With increased general confidence in the market place and a more settled work environment, i.e. less threat of redundancy and a more positive outlook, more people will feel able to look at different opportunities. Also with many banks at minimum staffing levels and having carried out internal restructuring there will be plenty of opportunities for the right skill set.
Areas in which we predict an increase in their recruitment during 2010 include:
Corporate Finance and M&A – the M&A market is recovering swiftly as a result of an increased level of confidence, more realistic valuations, greater access to funding, and the strategic considerations of larger corporates (as seen in the KraftCadbury takeover battle). There is also renewed interest in the AIM & Main List market, with an expectation of a healthy number of new offerings in 2010. However, many of the ECM and M&A teams have been greatly reduced over the last 18 months or so, and so are not big enough at the moment to execute the level of deals coming in; hence our expectation that there will be an increased demand for bankers at all levels. Another factor is that throughout 2009 most banks (big and small) were still keen to take on successful and proven “rainmakers”. These “rainmakers” are now starting to bring in deals!
Equity Research – affected very much in the same way as above many companies have downsized their research teams, or allowed them to shrink by attrition, however with the markets again on the rise, and the number of Main List and AIM offerings set to increase, there is a demand from all houses for good analysts to join their teams.
Front Office Sales – again this area saw a significant increase in hiring activity in Q4 of 2009 which is encouraging and, as predicted, the front office space is leading the way in terms of recruitment with some of our major clients taking advantage of good quality candidates that were made redundant in the early part of 2009. Candidates with strong sales track records and language skills across all asset classes will be in demand to ensure that revenue generation is maximised. The job candidate ratio has improved but client expectations also remain very high.
Middle East – despite the revelations made by Dubai in November 2009, the overall state of recruitment in the GCC region of the Middle East is positive, with key hotspots. Saudi Arabia has a lot of recruitment requirements, being the biggest economy in the region, but is accompanied with the usual difficulties the Kingdom has in hiring experienced bankers from outside the region. Qatar and Abu Dhabi are also seeing a lot of positive activity, with their natural resources underpinning the efforts they are making in financial services and other sectors. Bahrain is where we as a company are seeing most opportunities, particularly at board level in financial services and in infrastructure businesses
Board Level – the opportunities at board level remain positive with increased demand for Chairmen, a continuing demand for high calibre Non-Executive Directors, as well as a reversal of trends in recent years with more opportunities for Executive Directors. It will be interesting to see how the tax changes in the UK affect hiring senior directors from outside the UK.
Overall, myself and the team at Alan Mitchell are very positive and optimistic about 2010. We will be continuing to offer our clients an honest and straightforward service sourcing the best calibre candidates in our specialist market place. With 2009 behind us we now look back feeling proud that we have continued to work so professionally and closely with all our clients and candidates as well as learning a lot along the way!
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