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salary guide 2023

funds & investment management
salary guide 2023

Funds & Investment Management
Financial Services

Author: Anne Keys, Joint Managing Partner

Download the 2023 salary guide View the 2022 salary guide View the 2021 salary guide View all salary guides

overview

2022 saw an unprecedented demand for attracting and hiring top tier talent across all areas in Financial Services in Ireland. It was one of the busiest years for hiring in over a decade with a renewed confidence in the market following the pandemic. The year was dominated by substance (talent) requirements, work from home strategies, the great resignation, culture, DE&I and hiring green talent.

It continued to be a candidate-led market in financial services, where employees secured attractive increases in their overall package to entice them to move roles.

Firms faced a “war for talent” with a renewed focus on retaining and attracting key talent for pre-approved control roles (PCF) and support roles to PCF holders.

FMCs & substance requirements

The CBI continues to drive hiring requirements across the FS sector. CP86, Dear Chair letters and thematic reviews by the CBI on FMCs meant the focus in 2022 has been on meeting substance requirements and resourcing upwards to take account of expanding nature, scale and complexity of their funds and business in Ireland.

We saw CBI requesting firms to separate DP functions particularly on the risk side and remove double hatting of compliance and risk roles in smaller FMCs.

The changing FMCs landscape was noted by CBI in their recent Dear Chair letter in December 2022 – “since 2019 the number of FMCs went from 358 to 148 driven by the disbanding of SMICs resulting in a significant migration of business to proprietary or third party FMCs.”

The Panel conducted a survey of Head of Compliance candidates in FMCs and 78% of candidates had moved roles in the last 18 months.

Risk and Compliance roles remained the most challenging roles to fill in 2022 with a tight supply of suitably qualified candidates for PCF and DP roles.

Firms looking to hire Head of Compliance or Head of Risk roles had to extract candidates from their firms, offering up to 25% increases on total packages to entice them to move.

Fund Admin market

We saw hiring in the Fund Administration sector bounce back in 2022, with firms focusing on adding bench strength to their governance areas, filling PCF roles as well as attracting candidates with Private Equity and Real Estate Fund Administration experience. The influx of niche Fund administration firms benefiting from the changes in ILP legislation saw these firms build out their executive, PE RE operations and governance teams on the ground in Ireland throughout 2022.

SEAR in 2023

SEAR (Senior Executive Accountability Regime) is at the top of the agenda for executives and board members in 2023 continuing the focus of the CBI on transparency, accountability and best practice across PCF individuals and regulated entities.

Executive market

Again it was a bumper year for executive hiring. The executive hiring market in the funds and investment management space was driven mainly by CEOs moving into the iNED space particularly female CEOs. While it was disappointing to lose experienced female CEOs from the c suite, it meant some very attractive CEO roles had to be filled across the FMCs in 2022. Other factors driving this hiring included retirement, international CEOs returning home and general backfilling of executive roles.

Hybrid working

The majority of financial services firms in Ireland offer hybrid working arrangements as part of their package now. Candidates enjoyed the flexibility of working from home during the pandemic and remain very focused on retaining this as a standard benefit. On average the requirement is 2-3 days per week in the office and most candidates are happy to commit to this arrangement depending on their location. We have seen a huge difference on WFH policies throughout the sector with some firms only requiring one day in the office while others requiring a more office-based arrangement, up to 4 days in the office. The big challenge for firms is encouraging their teams to “return to the office” hoping they will see the benefits of face to face interaction, more collaboration and socialization. For the next generation of talent and new team members, the office environment allows them to receive excellent on the job mentoring, which is invaluable for their career development. In 2023, we believe the hybrid strategy debate will focus on what best for the business and best for employees, there will have to be a meeting of minds and a realistic agreement that things have to change.

Culture, inclusivity & diversity

There remains a huge focus on culture, inclusivity and diversity by Financial Services firms.

Employers grappled with the impact of hybrid working on their corporate culture and are still trying to understand how they develop and maintain their culture while a significant numbers of the team WFH. Diversity and inclusion in hiring processes remains at the forefront for employers requiring a diverse talent slate for all roles. It is really encouraging to see recruitment practices changing, some firms will not move to interview unless there are min 2 female candidates on the long list. Hiring diverse talent at all levels allows for diverse thinking and better run businesses.

Diversity on boards

There continues to be a huge requirement in Ireland to have more balance on funds and investment management boards. This is driven by CBI requirement and firms knowing that balanced/ diverse boards are better for business. Firms now have a great opportunity to attract ex CEOs and executive female talent with a wealth of experience at the c-suite to join their board. The availability of hi-calibre female talent at the iNED level is very encouraging. Though according to the CBI recent stats only 20% of women are represented on fund boards. While we are moving in the right direction, progress remains slow with a lot more work needed to reach a 50/50 split.

Anne Keys is Co-Chair of 100 Women in Finance and runs iNED Workshops for women supporting females as they embark on their iNED journey.

Green talent

Green talent is on the rise amid prioritization of sustainability strategies across financial services. According to LinkedIn green talent i.e., having skills required to support the transition to the green economy, has increased by more than a third since 2015. They estimated the Irish economy will need to fill over 20,000 jobs by 2030 to support the green economy. What’s happening in London is quite interesting, financial services firms are snapping up staff from environmental not for profit groups to run sustainable investment fund strategies. In Ireland, there is a limited supply of green experts with financial services experience. In most cases, executives are pivoting to Head of Sustainability roles having come from a commercial background, upskilled and moved into ESG focused roles. It is great to see our education sector offering “green” and “sustainable” degrees and masters. This is an area where the FS industry can entice the younger generation back to the sector. They can now develop a career in sustainability in financial services and feel they are making a difference and giving something back.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting

2022 saw firms employing more than 250 people required to provide data on gender pay gap in their organization. The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage of all males and all females in an organisation. A gender pay gap does not infer an absence of equal pay for equal work, which is a legal requirement in Ire- land. Instead, it is typically a result of unequal gender representation at different organisational levels. More than 500 companies have disclosed their figures. (PWC)

According to PWC, the main gender pay gap is 12.6% across organisations. From 2024, firms with more than 150 employees and from 2025 firms with over 50 employees will be required to produce this report.

The gender pay gap report asks for gender pay gap data on a yearly basis with firm detailing the initiatives in place to significantly increase in female participation at all levels, particularly at senior/executive/board level.

Ireland Women in Finance Charter

Anne Keys, Minister of State Dr. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD and Aisling McCaffrey at the Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter roundtable breakfast meeting March 2023.

In 2022, led by industry and supported by the Government of Ireland, Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter was launched underpinning the financial services industry’s ambition to see increased participation of women at all levels, including junior, middle and senior management, leadership and board roles within financial services organisations based in Ireland.

The Charter, guidance note and templates were developed by industry to assist firms foster and harness the talent and experience of all women in financial services, which is crucial in developing a strong pipeline of talent. This will lead to greater diversity of thought, experience, and leadership styles in decision-making processes, for the economic benefit of the business and the wider community as a whole.

Anne Keys is on the steering committee for Ireland Women in Finance Charter.

For more information on the Ireland Women in Finance Charter – IBEC.

Conclusion

According to the ERSI, Ireland showed a remarkable degree of resilience in 2022. The hiring frenzy in the first 9 months of 2022 in Ireland happened with the backdrop of significant a geopolitical event (war in Ukraine) and later in the year from mid Q3 an energy crisis resulting in a cost-of-living crisis and a return to inflation.

Most FS companies increased salaries to take account of inflation ranging from 2%-7%.

Redundancies in technology brought shockwaves to the market, with large tech firms citing “over hiring” during the pandemic as their key reasons for laying off staff.

In the ERSI’s article in October 2022 they remained upbeat about the Irish economy stating “despite significant headwinds, Irish economy set to perform in robust manner for the remainder of 2022 and to moderate in 2023.”

The OECD predicts Ireland will have 3.8% growth in 2023 and 3.2% in 2024. While this is a reduction on growth in 2022, the figures are a lot healthier than our UK and Germany neighbours.

In 2023, there continues to be a talent shortage in the governance space with compliance, AML, risk and audit skill sets difficult to source. With a significant number of firms paying bonuses at the end of February and throughout March, this usually starts a wave of resignations and a wave of hiring!

Our view is 2023 will be a more balanced and a more normal hiring market, set against global headwinds, Ireland remains an outlier in economic terms. Ireland is in good shape facing into 2023 with a positive outlook for the Funds and Investment Management sector this year.

Financial and Investment Management opportunities at The Panel

Market Sentiment Survey 2023

In January 2023, we surveyed a number of Funds and Investment Management professionals, to get their views on a number of different topics. Below are the answers to the overall survey.

I expect my base salary in 2023 to:

Even in times of great change, layoffs in the tech sector our respondents overall seem to hold a positive view on where their salaries in 2023 will lie. With almost half expecting a 5-10% increase and just under a third of respondents are confident that their salaries will stay the same. Only 1% believe they will see a decrease in their base salary. 72% are expecting a pay rise this year.

If base salary is increased, it is due to:

Out of respondents believing that their base salary would increase, 41% believe it is a result of standard incremental increase and 35% because of inflation.

15% says it would be due to moving job and 9% a result of internal promotion.

Which of these statements best reflects your thoughts?

We asked our respondents how they feel about their current hybrid working arrangements. Not surprisingly, over half stated that they would only want to work where hybrid working is on offer.

Whereas 15% said they would only work full time remotely, only 1% wanted to work in the office full time. Interestingly 20% of respondents were happy with either arrangement.

If hybrid, how many days would you prefer to work from home?

When asked if hybrid was an option, “how many days would they prefer to work from home” a majority responded that they would prefer either two or three days at home, and the rest of the week at the office. This seems to tie with what we’re seeing on the ground in financial services – on average firms are looking for their teams to be in the office 2/3 days per week.

With many large/multinational companies seeing redundancies, are you nervous that your job is at risk?

The recent tech layoff does not seem to impact our respondents and a massive 85% answered that they were not worried that their job was at risk.

I plan to move companies in 2023:

It’s interesting to see that 65% of the respondents stated they would move jobs or consider moving jobs in 2023. Again, reflecting the levels of optimism within the sector. 35% said they would not consider a move and were happy in their current role and company.

If, answering yes to the previous question. What would the reasons for considering a move be?

Out of those considering making a move, most cited the reason they would move to be, either for career progression or for a better salary. Work/life balance and flexible/hybrid work arrangement were also high on the list of reasons with a smaller percentage stating that they were looking for a change.

I would consider a firm’s DE&I policy before applying for a role.

Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DE&I) is a hot topic and something jobseekers are not only more aware of, but also see as a key factor in choosing a new employer. Our survey shows that the importance of a firm’s DE&I policy when choosing a new employer, with 40% stating that they always consider DE&I before applying for a role, and 40% sometimes.

I would consider a firm’s ESG policies before applying for a role.

Like DE&I – Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is also front and center for jobseekers.

Interestingly, DE&I seems to be more “front of mind” for our respondents, with over 40% always considering an employer’s company’s DE&I policies before applying for a role. Whereas only 29% would always consider their ESG policies. As the green agenda gathers pace, we expect this figure to increase significantly.

COVID has:

Perhaps unsurprisingly over half of all respondents felt that COVID had no material impact on their career progression over the last few years. In fact, 31% felt that it had been a good thing for their career.

2023:

More than half of our respondents (56%) believe that 2023 will be a good year for them careerwise, with only 10% foreseeing it to be a difficult year. This positive market sentiment is good news for the Funds and Investment Management sector.

In 2022, were you paid a bonus?

As bonuses are always a good barometer of the health of the employment market, it is great to see that over 51% of our respondents received their full bonus in 2022 for 2021, with 21% partial bonus. The sentiment this year is slightly different. Having spoken to a number of CEOs, their view is a flat bonus on 2022 is a good result and over 45% expected bonuses to decrease by up to 20% on last year.

Funds & Investment Management Salary Guide

Legal Market

The recruitment market for lawyers with a financial services background remains very active at the moment.

So far in 2023 our legal recruitment team has worked on a number of in-house legal counsel assignments for domestic and global financial services organisations including; Senior Derivatives Lawyers, Structured Finance Lawyers, Senior Regulatory Counsel (investment management), Product Lawyers (investment management), Asset Management Lawyers (3-6 year pqe), Technology Lawyers (banking).

We have also managed assignments with fintech organisations.

Within financial services the skill sets most highly in demand from a legal perspective are lawyers with an investment management/funds background (especially at the 2-6 year pqe level) and financial regulation lawyers (banking, payments and funds).

We are seeing in-house legal teams maturing and as a result they are recruiting additional positions such as data protection specialists, privacy lawyers and employment lawyers.

Company Secretaries are highly sought after by companies offering corporate services to their clients – the competition for company secretaries is high given the law firms and accountancy firms are also hiring in this area.

The legal professionals that we deal with are often looking to make a move from private practice to a financial services institution for a slightly better work life balance. This is one of the key motivators.

For this reason they are always very curious to understand the working culture at an organisation as well as how well resourced the legal team might be.

Hybrid working remains a key requirement for all legal candidates.

Banking & Treasury Market

Banking has been a tale of two cities for the last 12 months. On the one hand we have the unfortunate situation of long-established retail banks leaving the Irish market namely Ulster Bank and KBC. On the other hand, we are seeing substantial growth within the remaining retail banks of AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB. There’s no doubt that competition will be diminished within the Irish market as a result come here especially impacting buyers of mortgages and loans. Despite this negativity, demand for staff remains robust at all levels, but with increased pressure to find experienced staff within IT, risk, compliance and governance.

Risk and Compliance

The never-ending avalanche of new regulations being driven by the ECB, and by extension the Irish central bank, has resulted in an insatiable appetite for experienced risk and compliance professionals in the Irish banking market. This demand for staff is being seen at all levels but it is especially acute from manager level upwards. At the senior end employers prefer to hire those risk and compliance special professionals with prior PCF approval from the central bank, thus mitigating the risk of new hires not being approved. The one cloud on the horizon within this buoyant space is the impact that SEAR (Senior Executive Accountability Regime) will have. SEAR places rather onerous obligations on firms, and more especially on senior individuals within them, to set out clearly where responsibility and decision-making lies. We have already seen a minority trend of candidates declining roles where they may be impacted by SEAR in the future. We suspect this trend will continue.

Treasury

Demand for treasury staff within domestic banking treasury continues to be anaemic. Little risk is being taken and for all retail banks the primary focus remains net interest margin, especially as interest rates have risen quickly of late. The situation within international banks based in Ireland, with front office capability, is quite different. We’ve seen a shift we have seen an increase the level of risk taken in these operations and a corresponding increase in demand for experienced front office staff. This has been driven primarily due to Brexit and we would anticipate that this trend will continue in the coming years. Technology tends to be to the fore in all these treasury operations, where circa 50% of staff being hire are technologists.

Corporate Treasury

Recruitment within corporate treasury in Ireland was extremely buoyant throughout 2022 and this was across multinational treasury centres, shared service centres and within traditional Irish plcs.

There was some uptick in staff turnover as a rebound to the reduction in turnover during 2020 and early 2021 as a result of Covid. In addition to this many treasuries expanded and needed additional headcount, while demand for staff was also higher due to he opening of a number of new treasury operations in Ireland.

Demand has been heaviest at Treasury Analyst level up to Treasury Manager, with only sporadic vacancies at the Assistant Treasurer and Treasurer levels. Employers within treasury are increasingly seeking project experience and strong TMS exposure, with systems implementation experience particularly appreciated.

Hybrid working is now the norm and the first questions every candidate asks is what a company’s WFM policy is. The norm has settled on 3 days in the office and 2 days WFH and we do not expect this to change much in the next few years. Most importantly there has been heavy upward pressure on salaries over the last 12 months, especially at the more junior end. We think salary pressure has come about as a result of the combination of poor salary rises since 2018, heavy inflation pressure effecting every employee’s cost of living and finally a shortage of skilled treasury staff.

Benefits package:

Share options and LTIPs normally have a vesting period in place.
A private company can use an LTIP to incentivise their “C” suite without giving equity.
Increasing paid holidays is common for clients to sweeten a salary package.
Some clients give a fixed amount to their employees in addition to base salary – a flexible benefits package, which they can spend in any way they want to.

Your Funds & Investment Management Team

For more information contact:
Anne Keys, Joint Managing Partner
t: 01-6377088 | e: anne@thepanel.com

Anne Keys leads The Panel’s executive search in the Funds and Investment Management sector and is uniquely placed to partner with firms in hiring executives, board members and independent non- executive directors.

Anne works with a large number of the investment firms establishing a presence in Ireland following the Brexit vote and has had great success sourcing Country Heads/CEOs, PCF and DP roles for her clients.

Anne’s key differentiator is her extensive network developed over 25 years in recruitment and her

technical knowledge of the roles she recruits for, in the funds and in- vestment management space. She provides consultancy advice on the talent landscape, talent availability and is hugely knowledgeable on the sourcing requirements driven by the CBI under CP86.

Anne was instrumental in the set up and launch of100 Women in Finance in Ireland and is Co-Chair of the steering committee in Dublin. She is driving 100WF workshops for their executive female members, advising them on how to launch their independent non-executive director careers.

Anne has been invited to speak at key industry conferences in Dublin, London and Amsterdam on “CP86 Dear Chair – Getting the plan right”, “The talent landscape in Investment Management sector in Ireland”, “The War for Talent”, “ The benefits of an international board” and “The benefits of a diverse board”.

She also supports basis.point, the Irish Fund industry’s initiative to come together to help make a difference to those in need.

For more information contact:Liam Murphy, Associate Director
t: 01-6377027 | e: liam@thepanel.com

Liam specialises in the recruitment of roles between manager and executive level on behalf of various financial services entities including Asset Managers and Fund Management companies based in Ireland and overseas.

Roles Liam recruits for include:
Transfer Agency, Fund Accounting, Compliance, Trustee, Custody, Middle Office, Risk, Distribution, Regulatory, Depositary Data, Operational Oversight as well as other niche roles.

For more information contact:
Edna Hogan, Senior Recruitment Consultant
t: 01-6377092 | e: edna@thepanel.com

Edna specialises in the recruitment of Graduates up to Senior Manager/Executive level in Compliance and Risk within the Funds & Investment and Banking & Treasury divisions.

Roles Edna recruits for include:
Fund Accounting, Investor Services Officer, Financial Reporting, Treasury, Depositary and Compliance.

For more information contact:
Darina Heavey, Senior Recruitment Consultant
t: 01-6377015 | e: darina@thepanel.com

Darina works in the Funds & Investment Management and Banking & Treasury divisions in the recruitment of Compliance & ESG professionals.

Roles Darina recruits for include:
Risk, Compliance, AML, CTF, ESG, Sustainability, Fund Management, Banking, Treasury and Insurance.

For more information contact:
Will Kavanagh, Senior Recruitment Consultant
t: 01-6377090 | e: will@thepanel.com

Will recruits Risk, Compliance and Data Analytics professionals within the Funds & Investment and Banking & Treasury divisions.

Roles Will recruits for include:
Risk Officer, Compliance Officer, Investment Data Analyst, Regulatory Data & Reporting Manager.

For more information contact:
Farah Daoub, Recruitment Administrator
t: 01-6377014 | e: farah@thepanel.com

Farah is a Recruitment Administrator for our Funds & Investment Management and Banking & Treasury practices.

In this role, she supports Anne Keys and Alan Bluett, and is responsible for the support of both divisions, sourcing suitable candidates, interview preparations, onboarding processes, reference checking and interacting with clients on behalf of the partners.

The Panel—Sustainability, Diversity & Inclusion

Sustainability

As time moves on the sustainable responsibility of employers are becoming more and more important, therefore we here at The Panel take great pride in doing our best in meeting our target in this area. We take responsibility for our candi- dates, clients, and every part of our business in order to offer and supply solutions that positively impact those around us.

Knowing that you are partnering with a responsible organisation, should offer you peace of mind.

Read more on our Sustainability Policy here.

Diversity, Equality & Inclusion

In The Panel we actively focus on sourcing talent through a DE&I lens – we know diverse teams make for better functioning and more collaborative teams.

The Panel and our Managing Partner Anne Keys were instrumental in the setup and launch of 100 Women in Finance in Ireland in 2017 and Anne is currently acting as the Co-Chair for 100 Women In Finance Dublin.
Anne organises and hosts iNED workshops for women. Attendees include C-suite executives considering a career as an iNED and for women who have just moved into this space.

In November 2017, The Panel signed up to the Ibec/30% Club’s “Voluntary Code of Conduct for Recruitment and Executive Search Firms Code”.

This Code recognises the importance of search firms and client organisations working together to deliver change based on four principles:

Strategy & Goals
Talent Pipeline
Prices
Monitoring & Reporting

What can The Panel help you with?

Regulations – guiding candidates and clients through the Irish regulatory environment.
Market analysis – updating candidates and clients on current trends.
Talent acquisition – for clients we help source the best candidates for the role at hand.
Advice – we provide our candidates and clients with the most up-to-date information available regarding the market, the recruitment processes and the best remunerative options available to both.
Technology & Resources – offering candidates and clients the most up to date in recruitment and AI technology, enabling a quicker and more efficient recruitment process from start to finish.

Diversity & Inclusion at The Panel

As a company The Panel has successfully strived for internal diversity, equality and inclusivity and in doing so we firmly believe that puts us in a strong position to be ambassadors for our clients in an Ireland that is becom- ing ever more progressive, diverse and inclusive.

✔ 13 out of 23 (57%) employees are women.
✔ 1 out of 2 (50%) Managing Partners is female.
✔ 2 out of 5 (40%) Senior management team are women.
✔ 8 out of 16 (50%) Recruitment team are women.
✔ We are multicultural, 10 out of 23 (43%) CLAN members are foreign nationals, and 8 (80%) of those are women. ✔ Offer hybrid and flexible work arrangements to all our team.
✔ Our female joint Managing Partner is Co-Chair of 100 Women in Finance supporting women through all stages of their careers.

We believe we are one of the most diverse and inclusive recruitment companies in Ireland, putting us in a position to help our clients achieve the same.

We instil the following approach through rigorous training of our employees;

Equal Employment Opportunity is a fundamental right of all employees and applicants for employment.
The Panel undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against any applicant in respect of the subject matter of
disclosures made pursuant to the pre-engagement screening process or any other information revealed
during the engagement process.
All applicants are provided a full and fair opportunity for employment, without regard to race, colour,
religion, national origin, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, genetic information or parental status
We promote equality for all candidates.
We foster and support a globally diverse and inclusive workforce with our clients and place a high value on
diversity and equal opportunity.
We believe it is important for applicants to be considered for the employment of their choice and have the
chance to perform to their maximum potential.
The Panel is an equal opportunity Employer and Recruiter.

Executive roles placed in 2022

The Panel are expert recruiters in the areas of Executive, Accountancy & Tax, Banking & Treasury, Insurance, IT & Business Transformation, and Legal & HR. Contact us today to see how we can assist you.