Market Overview
Throughout Q3 there has been a steady volume of roles across Sales & Marketing, and while the desk isn’t by any means quiet, there has been a significant drop in the pace of the market over the summer period. Although we experienced a slight pick-up over the latter weeks of September, the overall feel of Q3 has been quieter than what we have seen over the past year. This reduction in the number of available roles along with the coincidence of the summer holidays has lengthened many interview processes compared to Q1 and Q2. While some candidates hold out for certain roles they are interested in, many organisations have subsequently lost out on top talent due to the length of their selection process, resulting in many returning to square one.
The use of our PROBE tool has provided broader insight into what exactly candidates are looking for. This analyses candidates’ motivations when seeking a new role, (including Progression, Remuneration, Organisation, Balance, and ESG). While all are important, we are particularly keen to uncover the driving factors which have produced some interesting results in the market today. If you are interested in learning more about our PROBE tool and subsequent results, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of the team.
The current cost of living crisis and treacherous state of the financial market has redefined both candidates’ desires and needs as the trend towards remuneration surpasses the ESG seen in 2020. In the current climate, candidates seeking new opportunities are aspiring to sizable increases in base salary in compensation for rising costs. They are also considering the employment package as a whole, including potential bonus earnings as well as benefit and rewards programmes offered. To address this, organisations have been taking matters into their own hands. To combat staff retention, many companies are looking at options to help ease the strain, including incremental pay rises, revised benefits packages, and employee assistance programmes.
Movers and Shakers
The Asset Management industry has seen a significant amount of senior distribution moves over the past quarter. One of the biggest announcements was the appointment of Jonathan Willcocks as Global Head of Distribution at Premier Miton, after leaving M&G eight months ago. Redwheel has also recruited at a senior level, hiring Jane Nicolls as Head of Business Development, replacing Tord Stallvick who was promoted to CEO in 2021.
The UK Wholesale space has also seen some movement, with both Lombard Odier IM and Federated Hermes hiring to grow their presence in the market. The former has appointed George Guest to target private banks and wealth managers, reporting to Head of UK Wholesale, Selina Tyler. The latter has poached Shanta Nathan from Polar Capital to focus on Wholesale clients in the South of England and London, reporting to Dan Churchouse, Head of UK Wholesale Distribution.
One senior Marketing mover was Rebecca, who has returned to the Asset Management industry after 3 years at William Blair. Ms Hoberg was previously Head of Continental European Marketing at Vanguard for 5 years before joining William Blair and has now joined Ninety One as Marketing Director for Global Advisory clients.
Role Profiles
There were clear hiring trends in Q3, with competition for candidates high due to the lack of available talent in the market. In Marketing, the demand for content markers spiked, with clients hiring experienced candidates with content-led campaigns expertise, rather than an investment writing background. The flow of product marketing roles continued, and again more experienced hires for newly created positions.
In Sales, the activity was at the senior end. Firms have hired from Sales Manager up to Director level, with the highest demand in the wholesale market, both London and regional. The opportunities in sales support have focused on candidates with language skills, particularly in Italian and German languages.
A prevalent hiring trend across the market is firms seeking candidates with expertise in alternatives, particularly private equity. This spans positions across sales, investor relations, RFP and marketing as our clients continue to grow their private markets business in line with investor appetite. In turn, this has inflated salaries for candidates with private market experience and traditional asset management firms have struggled to compete with the salaries that are on offer at private equity houses.
Predictions
After experiencing the first annual summer slow-down since August 2019, the expectation is that recruitment appetite in Q4 will come back in full force. We have already begun to see this in September, and believe that this will continue as the Sales & Marketing departments look to allocate their remaining spending budget before the end of the calendar year. This will likely be in the form of permanent and contract vacancies through October and November, with a usual flurry of day rate and short-term contract positions in December.
One topic that may be paramount in the final quarter of the year is surrounding staff engagement and satisfaction compensation and working patterns. As the cost of living increases and while the country has avoided an 80% increase in the energy price cap in October, steps will need to be taken to ensure employees are supported emotionally and financially. The group in particular that this is most applicable to is those at the start of their careers, who haven’t yet built up significant total compensation packages, and to whom these costs are going to have more of a direct impact. We hope that businesses act with empathy and provide support to those who could be in more senior positions within the business in the coming years.
It seems now with COVID in general circulation that the likelihood of further lockdowns and curfews is unlikely. This means that certain areas of the job market are likely to see a significant resurgence, particularly roles such as events, business development and external communications. All are areas that were affected to various degrees over the course of the past 2 years, but we have already begun to see the expansion plans certain businesses have made to solidify business growth.
Temp & FTC market update
Q3 has remained a busy quarter for day rate and fixed term contract (FTC) recruitment. As usual, there was a slowdown in August as people took their annual leave and spent time away from their desks, but September has picked up to its typical heights and the volume has remained high throughout the quarter. The full spectrum of firms we work with have been recruiting and multiple larger firms are seemingly in growth stages, and thus we’ve seen lots of hiring across the board.
On the temporary side, we have seen a definitive motivation shift, maybe due to a reflection of the economic situation, towards money being a top motivator and a high day rate being a priority. It seems good remuneration for day rate workers will ensure temporary recruitment remains attractive for candidates through these times.
For key role profiles in Q3, we have seen more senior mandates compared to previous quarters this year, particularly for maternity covers and projects specifically, and the majority of the senior roles have been FTC. RFP contract recruitment has gone against the permanent counterpart trend and slowed this last quarter, it seems the permanent market has been busy and RFP/Bid Writer contracting has struggled to attract candidates in a junior and mid-level roles, the only RFP roles seen have been high day rate roles.
Interestingly, we have seen around a 30/70 split between replacement hires and growth hires, with teams still building out in Q3 and indeed throughout 2022. In addition, throughout the quarter it has been an even split between FTC and day rate roles, but as we come to the end of Q3, we have seen an increase in day rate roles. This is typical as companies use day rate workers to cover the gaps into next year if the headcount is not there.
Overall, temporary recruitment has remained fast-paced as we enter into the final quarter of the year, which will hopefully bring about some interesting mandates and exciting opportunities in the Sales & Marketing temporary space.