funds & investment salary guide 2021

2020 was an unusual year, one that will go down in history! While hiring was strong in the first two months of the year, when the pandemic hit in early March it put the breaks on hiring for approximately two months. What we did see is hiring in the governance space continue and even in the midst of a lock-down, the CBI wanted PCF and DP roles filled promptly. Candidates felt confident in the sector as they re-signed from roles and this meant we were backfilling for their replacement.

Recruitment in the funds and investment management space in Q4 showed strong signs of returning to normal levels due to strong markets, issuing of the Dear Chair letter (substance requirements) and Brexit.

The Job Market

2021 started off very strong with increased levels of hiring in all areas in Financial Services. The Funds Industry continues to add bench strength to their governance areas and in operations, the focus is on Private Equity Real Estate.

For the Man Co space, the Dear Chair letter and Brexit has increased hiring significantly as firms look to put substance on the ground in Ireland or bring their DP’s in country.

The hottest area of recruitment in the Designated Person’s space is DP Regulatory Compliance, DP Fund Risk and DP Investment Management. The Panel has also won a number of retained assignments to source CEO and Managing Directors for new and established area.

This is very exciting for the executive hiring market where we can present highly attractive executive roles to senior candidates in Ireland and overseas, who are on the move. We believe hiring will continue at a pace as firms present their plans to the board at the end of March and focus on implementing their plans during 2022.

Work from home

Covid has made us rethink how we live and work. One positive outcome from COVID is the willingness of firms to consider and implement hybrid work arrangements. While this is a fluid situation for firms, we are seeing a variety of hybrid arrangements, with most organisations favouring 3 days in the office and 2 days remote. Hybrid arrangements can now be discussed more openly and there is a real focus on making things work for the business and for their employees.

Brexit & CP86

On January 1st, 2021, the United Kingdom left the European Union, under the name of Brexit. It meant that new regulations had to be put in place to better facilitate trade within the EU zone. As the only native English-speaking country in the EU, Ireland took over as a key destination for many markets.

New Fund Management Companies Guidance (‘CP86’) requirements set out by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) came into effect in October 2020, supporting the CBI’s commitment to supporting the supervisory framework for effective governance of fund management companies. Resulting in new entrants to the Irish market needing to be aware of additional regulatory guidelines.

Source: Deloitte

Foreign Direct Investment

Ireland, with over a thousand fund managers from over 50 countries worldwide, has proven itself to be a stronghold for FDI investment, UCITS and AIFs, providing not only an attractive tax regime, a large talent pool for firms to choose from, but is also offering full mar-ket access to the EU.

It has a well-established and committed funds industry set up, ready to welcome new assets to the market as they become available. According to findings by IDA Ireland “a total of 18 out of 25 top financial services companies are based in Ireland.

According to Irishfunds.ie “over 75% of the assets of Irish domiciled funds are held in UCITS”, ensuring an unrivalled Irish competitiveness. They also refer to Ireland as the largest alternative investment fund centre in the world, with more than 40% already operating from here. That makes Ireland a highly attractive option.

Referring further to Irish Funds, it can be confirmed that over 60% of the total European ETF market is based here, with the Irish domiciled ETFs representing around 62% of the overall ETF market.

Sources: Irish Funds, IDA Ireland

Asset Management

Though many fund management companies are trying to find their footing after a year like 2020, 2021 is look-ing to be a busy one for industry stakeholders.

In January both the Central Bank and the European Commission released guidelines and results related to research into existing market practises and the end-result was plenty of projected opportunities for the overall market in the months ahead.

In March, all fund management companies were required to update existing fund

prospectuses to incorporate sustainability-related disclosures.

Looking forward it is expected that the CBI will release additional information in relation to the ManCo action plan set out in October 2020, and guidelines in relation to performance fee guidance and cloud outsourcing.

Sources: Dillon Eustace, KPMG, IAIM

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 candidates, 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 & Inclusion

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 cli-ents the most up to date in recruitment and AI technology, enabling a quicker and more efficient recruitment process from start to finish.