Investment Funds – A Changing Job Market?

At the start of 2023, there were the usual predictions for the year ahead in terms of market activity and recruitment.  The previous year had been a busy one for recruiters working in a candidate short market, but in certain sectors employer demand was declining in later months.  Most of the early 2023 predictions were for a bounce in demand for candidates and the KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs reported an increase in vacancies during January.  The latter report wasn’t sector specific in its conclusions and we probably need to look at factors specific to the financial services to gauge the situation.

There have been some redundancies in the mainstream banking sector as world events and banking failures have provided some nervousness, even though the downfall of smaller banks has driven business to larger institutions and increased their profitability.  There hasn’t been a noticeable impact on the asset management sector in terms of downsizing, but recruitment holds have led to a certain amount of market stalemate.  Anecdotally we know that there are isolated incidences of redundancy in the asset management fintech overlap, for example.  We also hear from contractors in the fund administration sector who are not receiving contract renewals.

Candidate mobility remains low, partly due to successful retention, but also driven by a lower propensity for change and maybe workers’ contentment with current hybrid/remote working patterns.  This could change if the market follows the back to office trend being driven by major players in the  investment management and accountancy sectors.

We are seeing continual shifting sands in the outsourced fund administration and ACD markets, where consolidation and provider transitions will have an effect for the remainder of this year and beyond.

Certain commentators predict a recruitment bounce next quarter, which fits with predictions for the economy as a whole going towards lower inflation, increased confidence, improved investment.  As always, much will depend on external events and the ability of governments and central banks to release the shackles.  We know from experience how cyclical the recruitment market can be, and if we believe the graphical models we can see that an upturn is on the way.