Following a very buoyant 2022 and 2023, it’s fair to say that recruiting in our specialist recruitment market in 2024 has been quite vanilla and certainly less aggressive. 2024 has seen the large funds become bigger, and many smaller funds decreasing in size, even closing, and whilst sending shockwaves through the industry some illustrious and prominent leaders of funds have announced retirements from the industry altogether. Many companies have been asked by their COO to make good of the staff they have already, and to do what they can to become scalable with the infrastructure they already have, and investing in technology and automation to achieve said growth. Raising assets has become harder and certainly more competitive, and with a long list of compliance to launch a new fund, and how stringent this process is now, we have noticed that there is has been a distinct lack of hedge fund start-ups. There has been a distinct rise in the amount of Family Office or Wealth Management style firms we have partnered with, and whilst there have been a few “pod” spin offs coming to market this year, who all remain positive following their launches, the obvious knock-on effect is a lack of hiring at the senior (COO and Head of Ops) level for the start-ups, and that merry-go-round has yet to kick off in 2024. We have in a few instances where Senior roles have been rewarded via promotion internally, instead of coming to market looking for fresh ideas. Even the Prime Brokerage contacts we speak to have confirmed that they are being asked less to help them launch when offering a favourable COO as part of the deal. CassonX are fortunate enough to say that we have been flat in terms of the number of senior roles when comparing year on year, this has been subsided by filling International roles in Monaco, Luxembourg, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, using the extensive network we have in the UK and negotiating lucrative relocation packages for all of them.
In a year where the US and the UK have political unrest due to the elections and changes of leaders and parties, including the subsequent fresh challenges to the financial landscape, it’s fair to say that a lot of businesses have been waiting for the eventuality, instead of speculating on the outcome. What has been obvious is a lot of single strategy mangers have had to diversify and become more Macro in their approach, to not only keep their investors on their books but to also offer diversity and hedging services to their fund in this volatile climate. We have seen many major events in the Fixed Income world, with FX and Rates dramatically fluctuating all year, and even some major countries like Japan showing economic issues, the first time in many years. There is no hiding that the Private Credit and Commodities markets have seen exponential growth and forced hiring needs, but with regulations in Crypto and Blockchain becoming favourable for the professional investment world, we have seen a huge demand for candidates who understand the mechanics of different coins, as this becomes more popular. Whilst we have seen those who trade in the Primary and Secondary loan markets seeing good solid growth showcasing solid returns, those with Event Driven and Arbitrage strategies have been quite flat, certainly reflective of a lack of mergers, acquisitions, and IPO’s in the last 18months. Anything related to Equities, in particular Long/Short strategy funds, have suffered, we have lost some prestigious names from our market consequently and especially as the Debt world remains more prominent. It is fair to say that in 2024 those with a bond-book-basis have performed better than those without.
Most businesses still try to hire directly through their own networks, and rightly so, but given so many Operations or Middle Office staff have found new employment in the last few years, this has forced many institutions to reach out to their trusted suppliers to attract relevant profiles and advertising has not yielded the results which was intended. This is very relevant when considering those who want to advertise on Linked In, who are now realising just how many irrelevant profiles apply, and just how time consuming it is going through them all and replying to each one regardless how successful their interest is. With many companies now realising that Linked In doesn’t necessary attract the best or most suitable profiles for their hiring needs, and that they are “fishing in the same pond” as all their competitors and more, this now makes partnering with your trusted recruitment specialist even more valuable. In fact, many people are getting fed up of Linked In and not as active on it anymore due to the relentless unconciliated approaches they receive.
However, this does not mean that clients expectations in search of a perfect CV have not yielded. In fact, it has become harder to convince hiring managers to meet candidates, as they want more boxes ticked from a CV to justify the hire and signoff. Whilst strong academics will always remain prominent in the Alternatives sector, it is now very realistic to expect candidates to have programming skills with advanced Excel or VBA almost an essential requirement with every job brief. Many companies (especially those which offer Algorithmic or Systematic strategies) are now asking for candidates with Python, R or SQL type programming skills, as they look to enhance and support their automations, without enduring further expensive resources in their Dev Ops or Quant teams. An appreciation for Data is now becoming very useful in Operations hiring, especially those who can manipulate large data sets as part of their role, leading to an appetite for Controls or Risk Mitigation being key topics of interview questions during the process. We have seen a surge in Treasury type recruitment, where many roles which cover cash management / funding / liquidity, collateral, or margin management type responsibilities – companies are realising that if they have someone who can optimise their cash positions well, utilising their long balances, can generate further returns and this gives opportunity to Operations and Middle Office teams to achieve this too. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a very hot topic now. As we see Banks now using AI for customer servicing type roles, in fact lots of companies are using Bots to answer your questions on websites, AI is now the main topic in most of the events we have attended. How AI can be used in Operations and Middle Office is becoming quite creative, further enhancing the need for strong technical skills.
Navigating the post-Brexit world still holds some turbulence for some companies, and up until recently with interest rates continuously increasing and cost of living so high, this has undoubtably forced salaries up. Not forgetting that there has been so much hiring in the previous few years that higher salaries have already been paid to attract them, and an incentive needs to be on offer. This means that all levels of experienced hedge fund candidates now come at premium to attract them away, sometimes to unfathomable levels for their experience, but such is the demand for hiring superlative talent that offers relevant industry and strategy / asset class exposure. Many businesses are returning to a hiring strategy that reminds us of 2007 and 2008, where hedge funds were more up and coming, and businesses are looking to hire talent from Prime Broker Middle Office teams or Long Only style Asset Managers to seek cost-effective solutions yet encouraging for a candidate to change sector. We are also seeing that opportunities for candidates who require sponsorship to work in Operations or Middle Office are also diminishing and being saved for those who work in other departments.
Can you believe that we still must remind many firms that no graduate schemes were run in 2020 and 2021, making the identification of a candidate with 3-4 years’ experience almost an impossible task, and when identified, many have already found new careers given the volumes of hiring at that level. With the continuous demand for candidates with under 3 years’ experience, it is obvious that those salaries and total remunerations have increased, making the very junior market lack value because demand is outstripping the supply. More details of these experiences can be found by reading this short blog: https://cassonx.com/the-difficulties-with-hiring-a-less-experienced-operations-or-middle-office-candidate-in-the-current-market/
The majority of firms we speak to want 2024 out of the way, for what is widely seen as reset year for the industry. 2025 is looking really positive in terms of hiring needs, with many firms already talking to us about hiring to support expansion and increase in trading volumes. Many businesses we are speaking to have increased their front offices, determined to drive revenues further, and the subsequent knock-on effect is to have a robust Middle Office and Operations function to support this. This is exactly where CassonX can thrive with your hiring requirements. Be prepared to note that for any process most candidates will have three months’ notice periods, even including the inexperienced staff, and we are also witnessing many more companies willing to buyout bonuses to attract the staff they want, of course with proof of their previously paid total compensations. Face-to-face interviews are very normal again, it is also expected that most Hedge Fund employees are in the office 4 or 5 days a week now, with hybrid working conditions starting to become a thing of the past in this sector. We are advising all candidates looking for work in this sector to make sure their CV details all the asset classes and strategies they have supported, to make sure that hiring managers can make an informed decision accordingly about transferable skills. During 2023 in particular, the introduction for more awareness to DE&I became very prominent, it is now expected that each shortlist of candidates that CassonX provides is considered as diverse as possible, giving equality to the hiring process and an inclusive decision based on merit.
We are delighted to let you know that CassonX has produced its annual salary and total compensation survey for the Hedge Fund sector and separates the detail via company size and type of role too. Should you wish to see a copy then please go to our contact page, click on Clients, select salary benchmarking and fill in your details accordingly – don’t forget to include your work email and contact number. This information is available to all those who have or thinking about hiring, and we will be happy to send you a copy via email, or even catch up over a coffee or lunch to discuss further. If you are a curious candidate wanting to see this information, please do let us know and we can arrange a separate conversation, as this data is designed for hiring managers and clients who are looking to benchmark their own teams.
CassonX are not only honoured to be working with some of the best candidates in our sector, but we are proud to partner with a vast range of clients. We typically meet all our hiring managers to gain an insight into what is essential for any hire’s that they might want to make. We do not only listen to their requests but we offer sound market knowledge and intelligence because of our specialism. We can educate clients with what is trending within their talent acquisition market, including availability of suitable profiles, what their competitors are doing, and even simple economics of the industry. We believe this is paramount to building a strong working relationship with our clients.
Recruitment is a tough job. We represent individuals who have emotion’s and opinion’s, and sometimes the perfect candidate profile may not want to do the role that is on offer, or even work for the company we are representing. However, recruitment without its challenges would be boring and there are certain situations that can be extremely rewarding to overcome.
The are many hurdles as recruiters we must overcome when instructed to fill a role, we have outlined below the ones we come across most frequently.
Expecting candidates to want to leave and just do the same role
We understand why client’s want to hire someone who is doing the same role in a competitor firm. But this is not necessarily enticing for a candidate. Unless they are being made redundant as example, it is very rare for a candidate to want to make a sideways step in their career, most candidates will always want to further themselves. Therefore when hiring we always recommend that a client chooses a candidate who can demonstrate they are competent in 70% of the role which leaves 30% for them to learn. This will leave the candidate excited at the prospect of joining your firm and giving them the chance to develop further.
Candidates with advanced academics
Whilst many roles within financial services require specific levels of education and qualifications, our Operations and Middle Office sector doesn’t always dictate premium education. Those from top tier universities with STEM education as example, don’t necessarily want to forge careers in the back office. We encourage clients to meet those who don’t stand out with their advanced educational requirements, because often having practical experience within their field, or offering logical common sense is more valuable in the Operations world.
Trying to fill two or three roles using one candidate
Often due to budget constraints, firms will try and find a candidate who is able perform multiple job functions. Whilst this can be an exciting prospect for a potential candidate to grow their knowledge and skills, finding those with specialisms in multiple functions can be extremely difficult. Whilst we appreciate that candidates who work in smaller firms tend to offer a more varied skillset, we encourage clients to put emphasis on the most important part of the hire, and give opportunity for someone to be keen to do a wider role as part of their move as a bonus.
Hiring juniors
Whilst there are many benefits to hiring those at the start of their career, the junior end of the recruitment market has been challenging for a few years now, largely down to the lack of graduate schemes run during the COVID pandemic. My previous blog (https://cassonx.com/the-difficulties-with-hiring-a-less-experienced-operations-or-middle-office-candidate-in-the-current-market/) details most of these issues, but fundamentally there is no value in hiring those with less experience right now. Given the ever-increasing demand for youthful talent, and the sheer lack of graduates or school leavers starting their careers in the last 4 years, (not forgetting rising cost of living and individuals trying to get on the property ladder) this has forced the salaries up of those in the junior category. Surprisingly, firms are still willing to wait patiently and pay for them!
Programming skills
Many firms now use Operations or Middle Office hires to help automate their processes. In many of the smaller firms we recruit for, who don’t have budgets to invest in major technology systems from vendors, they typically use Excel to manage their data. Whilst being proficient with Excel and sometimes VBA are justifiable in those instances, some firms try and hire Python/SQL/Alteryx programmers as example. A programming role is very different from working in Operations or Middle Office. In fact a programmer can not only take on a more front office focused role programming algorithms for trading strategies as example, but these roles pay substantially more! Front office roles are certainly more attractive, as they are more aligned to revenue generating. But the main issue is that they are two sperate roles, requiring two separate skillsets which tend to be much harder to correlate. We always recommend that where possible, budget should be found for 2 separate hires to attract the best possible candidate for each role.
Low salaries
Budgets are always the toughest part of any recruitment process we have to manage. It is rare that companies want to overpay their own staff in comparison to their competitors. Some firms do, but typically you are expected to work much harder in return. However, unsurprisingly it is a common theme that candidates want to earn as much as they can, and companies want to pay as little as possible. The most complicated challenge is when a team has been built on budgets that are outdated and not in line with the rest of the market, consequently it shocks hiring managers to see that candidates with less experience than their current staff are commanding higher renumerations that some of their experienced employees. There is nothing we can do to change this and have sympathy for those hiring managers as sometimes, they will experience a high turnover of staff due to financial constraints. Our only advice can be to make sure you are creating an environment where people don’t want to leave, with excellent working conditions, strong leadership, and above all, job satisfaction. This is turn can help attract suitable talent when explained.
Not considering experienced professionals for more junior roles
There is always a fear that someone could be too overqualified for a role, and that they might want to leave soon after joining when a more senior role becomes available in the market. There is sometimes even a hesitance to hire them because the hiring manager is worried that they could challenge their own role. Many talented and experienced individuals don’t want to take on a demanding, high pressured role that carries a lot of responsibility. We always say to the clients that if we are sending their profile, then the candidate understands the level of role they are applying for, and are comfortable with it, thus willing to commit without causing complication to their team or department.
Part Time roles
We believe that these roles should always be offered to internal staff first. Many people now days are looking for job shares, or reduced hours to fit in family or other commitments for a healthy work/life balance. This is something that their existing staff may be looking for. Many clients want us to lower our fee to represent the reduced salary vs the amount of days or hours they work, but we must remind clients that we are not working part time and that the fee should be reflective of the full time work we are doing. We always embrace recruiting part time roles when required, we do however make sure our clients have explored all internal options first before embarking on this type of search.
Having to compete with internal recruitment teams
This shouldn’t be a competition! Specialist recruiters should be working in partnership with internal Talent Teams. Given we have a vast understanding of our specialist sectors, we should be encouraged to try and find profiles that their own resourcing teams can’t find. Many internal teams just use Linked In these days, to post a role and hope the ideal candidate applies. However, recruiters are trained in many ways to attract and identify candidates for all our clients. Some candidates even prefer using recruiters to act as a broker, and not directly with hiring firms. Having good communication with the internal recruitment team will achieve optimum solutions and give them the chance to make sure they can make the most informed hiring decision, by having a larger pool of candidates to choose from.
Lack of sponsorship
Working with international candidates has many challenges. Mostly the need to relocate and lack of being able to attend a face-to-face interview. But most commonly because they would most likely need sponsorship. Every company, dependant on size, has a limited amount of visa’s they can offer if any, therefore this may not be relevant for everyone. Some roles we see require individuals who are skilled in certain job functions who are typically found in locations internationally. We have experienced it many times where we are approached by those international based individuals, yet the client has no approval to offer sponsorship. Sponsorship requires time, financing, and can make a candidate less attractive in an interview process in comparison to those who are already in the UK. We always advise candidates in this situation to relocate and apply for a visa, before exploring roles here in the UK, and certainty when considering BREXIT implications.
We welcome the opportunity to talk to all potential client’s and candidate’s surrounding their needs. On our website you can find dedicated sections on how best to partner with us or other recruiters. You can also see all of our vacancies: https://cassonx.com/vacency/
CassonX are a specialist operations and middle office recruitment firm based in London. We are a boutique specialist agency, privately owned, giving you friendly and bespoke advice and support for all your staffing and recruitment needs. You can always contact one of our friendly, experienced, and talented recruiters directly via the website or on +44(0)2030565545.
As our leader James Manders celebrates 20 years as a specialist recruiter in the Financial Services sector, he was asked to share his thoughts and guidance in a series of interviews with the wonderful team at eFinancial careers, as part of their Talent Conversation series.
It goes without saying that James has seen a lot in the last 20 years, and he is immensely proud to be a trusted partner with many candidates, clients, service providers, and vendors, and loves talking about his market knowledge and experiences throughout his tenure.
Should you wish to review these talent conversations, then please see below links:
Mastering salary negotiations in 2024: https://vimeo.com/917965752
Navigating the impact of hybrid working: https://vimeo.com/917965537
The early careers dilemma; challenges & solutions in today’s job market: https://vimeo.com/917965456
Exploring in-house vs. recruiter hiring teams: https://vimeo.com/917965291
Please do take the time to review our other blogs, market intelligence, advice, and all things recruitment in the Resources section of our website
Last year witnessed a significant surge in hiring across our specialised recruitment market. In 2023, attrition rates slowed, companies were focused on retention of important team members, acknowledging the challenges of attracting talented individuals who can handle the demands of an Operations role within Capital Markets. It was a busy start to the year for Senior level hires, Q1 and Q2 is where the higher volume of roles at Director level (and above) came to market, ‘BAU’ hires have been more active throughout the year. There has been a focus from hiring managers on finding product specialists, largely with a view of automation in mind, this has driven the need for specialist recruiters to step-in as LinkedIn/direct advertisements are often failing to return suitable profiles.
Candidates with under 3 years’ experience are still the most requested profiles. A desire to attract talent with Excel VBA or Python skills is becoming increasingly popular, making this hire incredibly difficult, with demand showing a noticeable increase in salaries and total remuneration. I believe this has resulted in making this end of the market lack value, as demand is outstripping the supply. We still have to remind many firms that few graduate schemes were run in 2020 and 2021, which has impacted the candidate market at this level. The rising cost of living has also nudged potential candidates, across all degrees of competence, toward seeking new roles with better packages.
Salaries have seen an increase across all areas, albeit the difference wasn’t as significant as that seen through 2022. The most noticeable area of change this year has been within Controls and Transaction Reporting, where there has been high demand for candidates with broad regulatory scope, strong reporting coverage and an ability to mitigate potential risk within a standard BAU role. We have placed candidates with 2-3 years’ experience on salaries in the £70,000 – £80,000 with many not entertaining a conversation regarding a potential move without seeing a minimum of £10,000 salary increase. The contract market has been busier for FTC (vs PAYE), although many companies have struggled to find candidates quickly, this is often as the salary is reflective to match a permanent member of staff, and not incorporating the added risk of the incumbent taking on a contract position.
It is worth noting that working conditions are changing. We are seeing many companies now moving from a 3&2 hybrid working model, and now implementing at least a 4&1 or more noticeably a 5-day onsite working environment again. We get many candidates on a weekly basis, who have become accustomed to the hybrid model, now approaching us for a new role as their companies are enforcing a non-hybrid model. Largely because it is realised that employees do a lot of non-work-related things during the working hours and consequently distracts from hitting targets and cut-offs as example.
More companies are also holding face-to-face interviews instead of video, and this is why some recruitment processes have slowed to accommodate suitable interview times outside of standard working hours. Many companies are now enforcing a 3-month notice period across Operations staff.
We are delighted to let you know that CassonX has produced its annual salary and total compensation survey for the Capital Markets sector and separates the detail via role type and experience levels. Should you wish to see a copy then please go to our contact page, click on client@cassonx.com, select salary benchmarking and fill in your details accordingly. We will be happy to send you a copy via email, or even catch up over a coffee or lunch to discuss further.
Candidates who fall into the 1 to 4 years’ of experience bracket have always been the most in demand type of profile recruiters are asked to find.
I have recruited during a couple of recessions, including the turmoil of the financial crisis post 2009, and I can honestly say that in my 18 year career specialising in Operations and Middle Office recruitment, the current market for these types of less experienced hires is one of the hardest and most challenging I have witnessed.
The main issue that we are facing is that most companies are only just starting to run graduate recruitment scheme, potentially the first since the summer of 2019, which consequently means that there is a distinct lack of individuals who fall in the 0 to 3 years’ experience bracket. Whilst CassonX has been able to find those who have that level of experience for many companies, because of the sheer demand for this talent, it means that they are commanding salaries that are indicative of those who traditionally have between 4 and 7 years’ experience. It also means that actively searching candidates have a plethora of job opportunities to choose from, with most of these individuals not wanting to just do the same job in a company just for a little bit more money. This has been the typical hiring strategy for many years. Consider that a lot of businesses will give them the chance to move into roles with an opportunity to develop and learn/do more, deemed more of an “exciting” opportunity than the traditional entry level Operations where they might have trained.
Very intriguingly, in most instances where the lucky few have managed to secure a role within Operations over the last couple of years, their working career dictates that they haven’t even been into the office five days a week and only ever experienced hybrid working conditions. Trying to attract this junior talent is very challenging, so the knock on effect mean that those with 4 to 7 years’ experience are the most inexperienced people that most employers can find available, and making that level of experience very demanding and competitive too. Candidates are demanding substantially more when moving for the same type of role. As example, candidates aren’t moving for a standard 4/5% increase, they are able to command £10,000 pay rises with probably rounding it up to the next £5,000 marker. And most companies are willing to pay it to attract the talent they want and be competitive.
Trying to educate some potential employers about this current climate and market conditions has been the hardest part of our role as a trusted recruitment partner, especially if they haven’t had to hire for a period of time and seen this recruitment spike. It is also worth highlighting there has be a ton of hiring in the Operations market in the last 6 months, and concequently many previously available candidates are now not available having secured roles. Realistically, there are certainly no large pools of good candidates sitting at home unemployed given the sheer volumes of roles we have seen.
It’s not only enticing that is very difficult, especially if companies can’t offer video style interviews and insist on face to face interviews, but also companies are really struggling with retaining their staff also. I am starting to experience many of my clients talking to me about offering retention incentives and other creative ways they are trying to keep their staff from having their heads turned. Especially as the cost of living has substantially increased this year too. The best advice I have given everyone considering a retention bonus is to make sure that this is on top of what they are already doing, and not, as example, as a substitute to a bonus they are receiving. It is becoming lot more standard in the industry that those working in Operations have a 3 months’ notice period as standard also. Unfortunately this does not fend off interest from other firms though.
Only 3 years ago I recall talking to businesses about people who wanted to only work 3 days in the office, and this was almost laughable. Because of the recent pandemic, the hybrid working model has now become a normality. Can you believe that candidates are now looking for even more flexibility than that! Especially when this is only what they have experienced hybrid conditions with their careers so far.
CassonX have really struggled sourcing talent for opportunities with companies where they want their employees in the office five days a week, or even host interviews in a face-to-face capacity. This is deemed much less favourable and given the huge amount of opportunities available to candidates, they have quite bluntly rejected the chance to even meet with them given the variety of options available. Unbelievably, some candidates are now demanding a chance to work from home at every single day of the week, which is not something CassonX agrees with for many reasons – especially for building camaraderie, but is showcasing and indicative of the new working conditions in the modern world that we are working towards.
We are also now passed the period where people are “lucky to still have a job”, and if an employee hasn’t been rewarded with pay rises or bonuses, then I can almost guarantee they will be looking for a new role, after committing and remaining loyal during this abnormal pandemic period. Even if they aren’t actively looking, then given the aggressive marketing strategies available on social media platforms, and of course LinkedIn, then I can guarantee they would have received communication from at least one recruiter at some stage offering a golden carrot to leave.
It is very much a candidate lead market at the moment, please do consider how the market has changed over the last year before hiring talent at this level.
CassonX are very happy to discuss any of this information with those that are looking to hire talent, and how best to be successful in this climate.
There are three main qualities you need to have to succeed in a job in the City: a corporate mentality, determination and a strong work ethic.
Having a corporate mentality is very important if you want to succeed in this environment. Many people come to work in the City because they want to earn significantly more money, but you have to appreciate that you are working for a conglomerate and that, fundamentally, thriving in that environment takes the right kind of individual coupled with the right attitude.
The City is renowned for hiring the crème de la crème of the market – and indeed that’s the way it should be. To get there, having the determination to succeed should go hand in hand with also having the right work ethic.
To be better than everyone else in the City, you have to be relentless.
You have to try your best and make sure that you surround yourself with good people. You are only as good as the people around you, and having a good boss who you believe in is crucial.
The most important lesson I have learnt over the years is: look after yourself.
To do this, work with a manager who will give you clear and measurable goals that are in line with your expectations.
The best piece of advice I could offer to anyone who wants to work in the City is: don’t try and run before you can walk.
It is highly unlikely that you will land your dream role straight away, so the first job that you have in the City is not the job you’re going to be doing forever. Whilst many people want to land the perfect role immediately, sometimes to achieve your goals you have to do things you don’t really want to do to get there, especially when you’re starting out.
When trying to get a job in the City, it’s really important to ensure that you can clearly communicate why you should be hired above other people.
Competition is fierce. What are your unique selling points? What it is that makes you stand out when hiring managers are looking through countless CVs?
Fundamentally, the City is a great place to work, and the financial rewards can be great.
People who work in the City are paid, on average, 40% more than someone doing a similar role outside of London. However, in order to get here, you need to be at the top of your game. The things that will make you stand out are your personal traits and your ability to you fit into a firm’s culture. So if you want to get a job in the City, don’t be disheartened if you do really well in the interview, but then get feedback that says they don’t think you’ll fit into the team. You have to trust that those managers are making their decisions based on the current make up of their environment. Keep going at it, don’t give up, and do things that other people are not doing. David Beckham didn’t become the best free kick taker by just training with his team mates and kicking a ball all day – it was because he used to do all that work and then stay behind after training every single day to practice 100 free kicks. You need to be doing that.
