eFinancialCareers

The latest report by the Confederation of British Industry and Pricewater- houseCoopers reveals a bleak picture for the UK financial services industry, with business volumes in the last three months falling to their lowest levels since March 1991.

The fund management industry was thought to be relatively sheltered, but over-riding concerns over the credit crunch have dented asset manager optimism.

“Expectations for further employment growth are now broadly in line with the long-term average, which is notably weaker than at any time in the last two years,” says the report.

Scots recruiters confirm things have changed. “I have noticed a slowdown recently,” says Graeme Knox, managing director of Scottish fund management and investment banking headhunters The Knox Partnership. “But north of the border, this is more to do with corporate circumstances than the wider picture of the credit crunch.”

Indeed, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has been recruiting aggressively to replace lost talent. David Buckley last week started his tenure as CEO of SWIP, after the position had been vacant for nearly a year.

Meanwhile, new players in the Scottish market such as Fidelity and Schroders saw a lot of fund management talent shuffling in Edinburgh last year.

Pars Purewal, UK investment management and real estate leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, says: “Recent market volatility has resulted in a fall in optimism. Despite generally positive volumes and performance by major asset classes, there are certain asset classes, such as real estate, especially commercial property, which present a risk.”