FINANCE, TAX & AUDIT (PERM) MARKET COMMENTARY, Q1 2022

Market Overview

Just like that, another busy Q1 has passed in a flash with the Asset Management market showing no signs of slowing down. The buy-side Finance, Tax & Audit team at Bruin have been extremely busy since the start of the year across almost all areas, following a similar trend to the entirety of 2021.

 

Following the ease of restrictions and firms returning to London more frequently, it has been very nice to spend time seeing some familiar and new faces across our client base, making up for lost time and cancelled Christmas lunches. We also hosted our first in-person event of the year, “Advancing Black Women in Financial Services” which was recently held in partnership with networking group Black Women in Asset Management (BWAM), an industry association that promotes the retention and advancement of Black women working in asset management. Please follow the hyperlink to find out more information.

 

With around three days in the office being the norm across the majority of our client base, a challenge we now face again when arranging in-person meetings and interviews is aligning diaries. We are however, seeing some clients preferring their employees to return to the office more regularly. The question of hybrid working usually comes up with the majority of candidates and is often an important factor for them when considering new opportunities.

 

We are sure hiring managers are fed up of hearing the term “candidate led market”, aren’t we all, but the reality is, this is still the case across most areas within asset management. Whilst it is great to see such a high volume of roles, it is important that we are realistic with time frames when recruiting for certain positions, as well as working closely with our clients in order to find solutions. There has been an evident, conscious effort from the vast majority of our client base to move through processes as quickly as possible with strong candidates and this often results in those firms securing the best talent.

 

Role Profiles

A noticeably busy area for us so far this year has been Financial Accounting & Control positions at Manager – Director/Controller level. Huge growth for a large number of alternative asset managers in the last couple of years has resulted in more of these positions, as the back office looks to facilitate business growth. Further to this, a number of large US based Asset Managers continue to build out their control functions in London and Europe, relieving the US of some responsibility, consequently resulting in need for strong Financial Accountants. At the mid-senior end, these roles often require individuals with experience of ICAAP and ideally knowledge of ICARA, as firms look to ensure they are well equipped to meet new IFPR regulations.

 

Financial accounting/reporting positions at the newly qualified level continue to be challenging to source. With the growth of the alternative fund space, individuals from Big Four tend to favor moving into a more varied, transactional focused fund finance position or to remain at Big Four and transfer into to transactional services teams. Where historically clients have favoured individuals with asset management exposure, they are now tapping into a strong candidate pool of individuals from wider FS or even non-FS backgrounds. To caveat this, it is important we educate junior individuals, who are embarking on a Finance career within asset management, the importance of understanding fundamental processes and controls in order to progress and become senior within the industry.

 

From a commercial finance perspective, we saw high volumes of FP&A/business partnering mandates at differing levels. We saw an influx of newly-created group level strategic/corporate strategy roles. These tended to be Manager level or upwards and predominantly across our large traditional Asset Management client base. These teams generally take a birds eye view of the business as a whole and look at ways in which efficiency/optimization improvements could be made, as part of the continued effort to reduce cost and make these businesses more lean and efficient. For these roles, our clients have targeted candidates with strong business and financial acumen, commonly coming from business management or business finance/partnering backgrounds. Generally these individuals have the ability to analyze complex data and work closely with data analytics teams and senior management to implement change. These positions usually attracted huge interest from the market, with high numbers of strong applicants, due to the roles’ varied and strategic nature.

 

We have seen continued growth within the alternative Fund Finance space which reflects the success of the sector. At the junior/newly qualified end, the most common were real estate PE focused. There has also been a large volume of senior Fund Controller mandates, looking for individuals with strong PE and Credit fund knowledge (often real estate or infrastructure), some of whom are tasked with leading fund launches. Due to such high volumes of roles in this space, we have seen individuals in multiple processes and as a result salaries have been driven up.

 

Traditional, mutual fund finance operations has also been a growth area. As many asset managers deal with increasing volumes, they have looked to leverage the support of their fund administrators more, and in doing so are looking to acquire fund oversight specialists to juggle external providers. These profiles often come from a fund administration background themselves, as they can appreciate the in-house and the external demands. That being said, a number of organizations have considered product control banking specialists as their skills can be transferrable. This has offered an attractive career change into the buyside for a number of individuals, where the product control market in London continues to be outsourced.

 

Our client base have been hiring across all seniorities within Internal Audit, from the newly qualified level up to the senior manager/director level. There continues to be a shortage of active internal audit professionals at the junior-mid level, which coupled with the candidate driven nature of the market, has resulted in clients considering individuals from non-FS backgrounds. At the senior end, the increase in volume of newly-created roles across both traditional and alternative managers has shaken up the market slightly, with plenty of movement and large numbers of applicants. Generally, those roles supporting front-office audits have been the most desirable.

 

The alternative tax market has also seen a steady increase in the number of newly-created roles, as these firms continue to grow and need the in-house resource to manage external providers. At the junior-mid level, the roles which most often attract individuals from a professional services background tend to be those with more of an M&A/transactional lean.

 

Predictions

Following the completion of a lot of year-end processes, recruitment across Finance during Q2 often speeds up. Similarly candidates now have time to reflect on their career aims following a busy season. Most buy-side firms will have paid out bonuses as well, so although we still expect Q2 to remain candidate driven, the candidate pool will likely continue to grow.

 

Another thing worth considering for employers, is the affect of inflation on candidate expectations and activity within the market. With the cost of living being as high as it is, this will likely be something candidates will consider when exploring new opportunities.