INTRODUCTION
Last year was a different year with many challenges. Working from home became the norm and meetings were taking part virtually. Employees are having to adapt, working from home is a key decision factor for many people when searching for new positions.
Fortunately we are seeing a thriving market once again across Europe. Locations across Europe are developing across Financial Services with Countries like Spain and The Netherlands pushing in demand for hires in the early stages of the quarter.
With locations such as Dublin and Luxembourg, where we have seen a growth in the last year of Manco’s being set up, regulators in both locations are putting more pressure to have people on the ground. This being said it is more important than ever to be able to relocate candidates as the demand for the roles being created is outweighing strong candidate profiles in these locations.
The German market has been by far the busiest at the start of the year with Banks, FinTech’s and Traditional and Alternative Asset Managers. Not only is there a demand from clients for newly created roles but the candidate pool of people looking to relocate to Germany is very high.
In a recent poll we conducted on LinkedIn we wanted to find out the most desired working locations for candidates working in FS outside of London.
Poll Data:
France, Ireland, Luxembourg – 22%
Ireland, Luxembourg, Germany – 21%
Luxembourg, Germany, France – 34%
Other – 23%
In order of popularity the “other” locations mentioned where: Zurich, Amsterdam, Spain, Poland and Italy.
Risk:
There has been a real increase at the start of the year in Risk hires with our clients in Europe, the effects of Brexit have meant that organisations are looking at how best to spread their resources across Europe. Within Asset Management and Private Equity we are seeing that candidates with exposure to Real Estate/Infrastructure funds along with a background in Operational Risk are hard to finds.
We expect that there is going to be a demand for IT and Governance dual headed positions within large Asset Management firms, this is something being pre-empted due to conversations with Chief Risk Officers across Europe. We have seen that Chief Risk Officer positions are being created in Dublin and Luxembourg, there has been a real concern from candidates that these roles are only being created to satisfy regulators. A concern is that budgets for positions like this are only attracting candidates that in reality are not experienced enough to deal with regulators and face off with them at an executive level. The banks are expecting a busy year in hiring, Counterparty risk positions at all levels with Derivatives knowledge will be something companies will find appealing.
Legal:
For those of us who have recruited in the Far East, Luxembourg is reminiscent of recruiting into the Hong Kong Market in its heyday – Luxembourg like Hong Kong has been attracting the best and the brightest from across the region and is seen by many firms as the entry point to doing business in the EU. Compensation has been on the rise in Luxembourg and there has been a noticeable increase in the number of job openings and candidates do tend to have 1 or more offers to select from and the competition for talent is becoming more intense. This is likely to increase as firms feel the pressure of Brexit and need to shift businesses and allocate resources to Luxembourg and other EU cities. Within Legal Luxembourg and Dublin stand out and we expect to see more legal hiring in Frankfurt as banks shift trading books and resources there.
Within Luxembourg the demand for legal associates remains high as does the demand for French and Luxembourgish qualified lawyers. Languages are at a premium and we are finding a number of multi-lingual EU citizens relocating to Luxembourg to study Law and then get on the path to qualify as a lawyer or work as a legal associate. We have seen some signs of EU lawyers relocating from the UK back to the EU but equally a number who are remaining in the UK and seeking to capitalize on their language skills and qualifications as the UK FS industry adjusts to the new normal of post- Brexit Regulations. As we have noted in the past Amsterdam continues to work hard to attract foreign banks and asset managers and this is a trend we expect to continue. Asset Management firms typically now look to Dublin / Luxembourg when hiring in the UK & it is an advantage for candidates to have some exposure to UCITs & Corporate Governance rules in those locations.
Compliance:
“Generalists” is a term that has been used a lot by our clients in what they are looking for with Compliance candidates. They want someone that has broad exposure to the compliance function but this only comes with experience and some times moving across organisations. In Luxembourg we have seen a demand for KYC and AML profiles that have had experience with on boarding complex structures, this has been evident in the Private Equity and Private Debt industry. Banking has seen that more Sales & Trading
Compliance positions being created, these roles can be difficult as you need someone who has strong front office experience, the German market may not be as strong for profiles as perhaps London.
Investments and Front Office:
Traditional Asset Managers with significant UK and European exposure sought to expand their capabilities in Ireland and Luxembourg on the back of Brexit, predominantly in their Delegated functions. Within this, demand for candidates with significant UCITS and AIF experienced continued throughout the quarter. We have also seen a push for candidates with Pan-European languages across the Investments space, noticeably within the Real Estate Investments sector. With Europe’s rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines underway and markets bouncing back positively from 2020, Asset Managers are on a mission to build-out existing teams to deal with the increased demand from investors. This has been seen in the form of several Institutional Client Services and Product Development roles.
Finance:
The market in Poland is very competitive currently, with good strong candidates receiving a number of offers. Product control continues to be a very skilled area, but loyal candidates are currently hesitant to move during the pandemic. Stability plays a key role in any hire.
Along with Product control, our team have seen an increase in roles within Valuation Control, Software engineers and Model Development. Luxembourg and Dublin seem to have a similar hiring cycle in Finance and also skill sets. Within the start of the quarter we have seen and interest in Senior Fund Accountants within Private Equity or Alternatives.
HR:
We are seeing a trend of building out the shared service functions in the European offices of our clients. This has been part of a Brexit contingency as well as general employee growth across the European offices. As clients are now growing their Brexit sites there is more and more demand for local knowledge as well as local expertise in areas such as Regulations, Tax and Compensation and Benefits. This has seen a shift to some specialists roles across Europe.
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