eFinancialCareers

Scotland’s fund management community has a new player in town in the shape of Shore Capital, the UK alternative asset class investment manager and ECM focused investment banking group. The firm has hired a team to kick-start its Edinburgh operation and intends to take on new recruits in the Scottish capital going forward. Shore’s new Edinburgh-based team has been lifted out of Landsbanki Securities (UK)/Teathers Limited. Richard Sloss and Andrew Keith,... Read more

When it comes to hiring, Scotland’s investment managers have been relatively bullish throughout this year, but recent redundancies and poor fund performance suggest that cracks are beginning to show. On the face of it, Scottish fund managers are still open to taking people on. Standard Life Investments (SLI) recruited Andrew Millington as investor director for UK equities from Baillie Gifford in September. Meanwhile, Baillie Gifford itself added three to... Read more

The top brass at Edinburgh based fund manager, Artemis, have sold their stake in the business to majority shareholder Fortis. It was a big pay-day for the firm’s founding quartet, and Fortis has promised to safeguard jobs and preserve the boutique culture. Fortis has made no secret of its desire to sell its stake in Artemis, and the move will give it the freedom to sell the entire firm to interested... Read more

In spite of the problems rocking Scotland’s banks, it seems Edinburgh’s appeal as a place to work remains in tact. Glasgow, however, has slid down the rankings in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). There’s a caveat to add to the above statement, though – the cut-off point for the latest survey conducted by research firm Z/Yen, in association with the Corporation of London, was in July, which was... Read more

After seemingly going into hibernation post its acquisition by Pearl, Glasgow-based Resolution has suddenly sprung into life. This is good news for its asset management function, but the back office is on the receiving end of some big job cuts. Pearl is expected to lay off around 250 people in its Glasgow insurance office. There will be a total of 500 redundancies in this department across the UK. Meanwhile, it’s... Read more

It’s a scenario all too familiar. A Scottish fund manager is looking to increase its headcount and, as it’s a global marketplace, has put feelers out to other major financial centres for talent. When asked the question why, say, the UK’s premier fund managers might want to move north of the border from the behemoth that is the City of London, the answer is nearly always the same: “Well, the... Read more

Around 2,000 jobs in financial services could be lost by the end of the year, according to a new report, but these are likely to be in the slumping property sector. The labour market report, by Inverness-based Mackay Consultants, says the credit crunch has begun to bite into financial headcount north of the border, thanks to write-downs at Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS. Tony Mackay, author of the report,... Read more

Scottish fund manager Martin Currie has been extolling the virtues of being independent, and is set to capitalise on recent strong performance by hiring 18 investment professionals. The firm reported a 60% growth in pre-tax profits for 2007, to £25.6m. And it reckons the credit crunch has yet to affect growth plans for 2008. Willie Watt, chief executive of Martin Currie, says: “We have no plans to cut jobs and... Read more

The indignity of it was too much for one politician to bear. Morgan Stanley, thinking of starting a Glasgow operation last year, was handed £6m by the government to make the move to Scotland. Then it turned out they would have set up here anyway. Fuming, Derek Brownlee MSP, Scottish Conservatives finance spokesman, spluttered: “You can only justify the use of taxpayers’ money to create jobs if they would not... Read more

Financial services professionals are no longer the most in demand in Scotland, but recruiters insist the market is as active as ever. The Bank of Scotland Labour Market Report acts as a barometer of employment in the country, and shows that the number of financial services jobs in Scotland fell slightly in May. In February, accounting and finance had the largest number of vacancies in Scotland. Now the sector ranks... Read more

Baillie Gifford’s Pacific Fund has recently lost its co-manager Ben Lloyd, who, according to FT Advisor, is planning to travel in China for a spot of R&R. Stephen Leach, head of human resources at Baillie Gifford in Edinburgh, says it’s all part of a trend: “Modern generations have become less shy about requesting sabbaticals.” According to Leach, Scottish fund managers have made use of extended leave to visit relations... Read more

Could the Scottish reputation for prudence encourage bankers burned by the credit crunch to seek solace north of the border? It seems doubtful, but Simon Thompson, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, seems to think it might be a possibility. Speaking at a conference recently, he said: “One of the big strengths of the Scottish financial services industry is our emphasis on prudence and professionalism. It's... Read more

US giant Federated Investors has emerged as the favourite to acquire Edinburgh’s Artemis Investment. But could the corporate influence shatter the boutique culture? In spite of running £15.7bn in assets under management, Artemis is tiny. It was founded in 1997 by Mark Tyndall, John Dodd, Derek Stuart and Lindsay Whitelaw and has since recruited 12 other asset managers. Belgian Dutch bank Fortis acquired Artemis after it bought pieces of ABN AMRO last... Read more

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has become the first Scottish asset manager to set up an office in the Middle East. SWIP has chosen Saudi Arabia as its Gulf area of choice, and is thought to be taking the joint venture route with local firm Fawaz Alkohair. Other large asset managers, including BNP Paribas Asset Management, Prudential Asset Management, Schroders and Pictet Asset Management have also set up offices in... Read more