eFinancialCareers

Do captive funds, owned by the likes of insurance companies, really pay their fund managers less than independents? Not according to one Scots asset management heavyweight. Alan Harden, chief executive of Dundee-based Alliance Trust, who recently lured Katherine Garret-Cox away from the fund management arm of insurance giant Aviva, dismisses the idea that captives pay less. He says Alliance has to pay on a par with large London groups and that... Read more

Amanda Harvie, chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE), resigned last month. What does Scotland need from her replacement? Ross Leckie, director of communications at fund manager Martin Currie, says the chief executive position is a crucial role for Scotland. “The SFE job is more important than it may appear. The money managed in Scotland is sourced abroad. It’s the same with the likes of Ballie Gifford and Standard Life.” “I know... Read more

Unhappy? Disgruntled? Thinking of leaving? Now may the time to tell your employer – research suggests Scots finance companies are doing all they can to persuade people to stay. The survey, by recruitment agency Manpower, suggests talent shortages are encouraging Scots banks, fund managers, and insurance groups to try keeping their employees happy. UK-wide financial services headcount is expected to rise by 4% in 2007, and Manpower says this has pushed staff... Read more

As technology profilerates, Scots finance companies must be increasingly vigilant against shady characters indulging in dodgy practices online. Just how inextricably linked finance and technology are when tackling such risk was revealed at the recent Bill Gates gig in Edinburgh. Michael Walsh, Scots-based executive with State Street, surprised the audience by revealing that upwards of one quarter of all his company’s jobs are IT-based. Meanwhile, London-based recruiter JP Gray reports that it’s currently... Read more

The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland (CIOBS) has launched a new competition to unearth the rising stars of Scottish banking. It’s being sponsored by Deloitte, the big four accountancy firm, and is open to all CIOBS members. The winner (who rises the highest) will get a two week foreign holiday. But the long term career benefits from being singled out from peers could last far longer than a fortnight in... Read more

With Edinburgh’s elite boutiques thriving, it helps to choose where you work carefully. Joanna Black of Black Recruitment says it is not unusual for people to come to her with lists of companies they will and won't work for. She told us: "At the end of last year I had one person who I spoke to who only wanted to work in Edinburgh and only for one specific company." Who’s on the A-list?... Read more

Scotland’s financial services workers are seeking pastures greener (and less wet and windy). Recruitment firm ‘Think Global,’ says Scotland’s finance professionals are increasing moving abroad in order to gain CV points – rather than for the lifestyle benefits of living in – say – Sydney. “People are recognising that international experience is integral to gaining promotion,” says Think Global marketing manager Suzanne Laporte. The company’s latest survey shows that career development now... Read more

Scots who have built themselves successful financial careers in London are beating the drum homewards and driving inward migration in Scotland. So says research from the Bank of Scotland. The bank’s study suggests the returning Scots are mostly in their mid-to-late 30s. In the last decade, 53,000 more people have come back to live in Scotland than have left. Professor Allan Findlay, a lecture in demographics at Dundee University who’s done... Read more

The chief executive of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has quit. Headhunters say he could be hard to replace. Chris Phillips, SWIP’s chief exec is heading for pastures greener at Morley Fund Management as of summer 2007. His departure could deal a body blow to one of Scotland’s most famous asset management groups – in the four years Phillips spent at SWIP assets rose to £102bn and its UK and European funds... Read more

Dundee is about to receive a jobs injection: Alliance Trust is preparing to increase its presence in the city. The investment trust company has plans to create 160 jobs over the next three years. Most will be in Dundee, where it’s had a presence since 1888. The jobs will mostly be for administrators, although we understand there will also be roles across pensions, investment dealing and asset management – including senior... Read more

Scotland may be many miles from India and Shanghai, but there’s plenty of demand in the country for people to manage investments in emerging markets – and (we’re told) not enough of them to go around. Edinburgh-based Ronnie Petrie, head of emerging markets at Standard Life Investments, tells us: “It’s difficult to hire such individuals – the market is hot.” The problem, according to Petrie, is that emerging markets managers need... Read more

Citigroup’s purchase of Quilter from Morgan Stanley could be a recipe for job creation in Glasgow. Citigroup purchased Quilter, a UK private bank, in early December for £230m. Similar acquisitions have been known to trigger job cuts - but not this one (or so it seems). A spokeswoman for Citigroup tells us: “Our initial focus will be on a smooth integration of Quilter into our global wealth management platform. We expect to... Read more

What was hot and what was not in the Scottish financial services industry over the past twelve months? Here’s our considered opinion. Good year Fund servicing: Fund servicing jobs may not be as well paid or prestigious as front office roles, but they are plenty of them, and their numbers are growing. Figures from Joslin Rowe suggest there were 30 per cent more asset servicing jobs in Scotland in 2006... Read more

Recruiters say Resolution Life has been at the forefront of recent demand for risk and compliance personnel and its appetite looks far from sated. In the three years since Resolution was founded, it has swallowed up a large proportion of the UK's closed with-profits funds, creating a multitude of new administration jobs in Glasgow. Earlier this month the company revealed it was engaged in conversations with both potential suitors and targets... Read more

A bumper year in financial services is helping drive earnings at Scottish recruitment companies. For the second year in a row, recruiters report no sign of a seasonal slowdown in hiring. Julie Bodger from the Edinburgh office of Change Jobs told us: “We have probably had one of our best year’s ever. As a team we are possibly dealing with 30 to 40 vacancies each, a few years ago it would... Read more

With Standard Life searching for at least four new non-executive directors, our research suggests Scots non-execs can now earn just as much as their English counterparts. Non-executive directors at Scotland's largest listed financial companies are paid handsomely. Those at Royal Bank of Scotland and HBoS receive a standard £55,000 and £50,000 respectively for their services. And last year, most RBS non-executive directors were paid another £25,000-£50,000 for sitting on additional group... Read more

The Scottish financial services market is home to a growing number of highly qualified temporary financial services employees - and not just in call centres. Recruiters tell us there’s a growing appetite for senior finance professionals willing to take on short term contracts. Margaret Dyer, a director at recruiter Joslin Rowe’s Scottish operation, says a survey by the company last year revealed that 42% of Scots financial services clients were preparing... Read more

More hedge fund activities can be developed out of Scotland, say recruiters and Scottish Financial Enterprise. Search firm Odgers Ray & Berndtson is currently seeking an Edinburgh-based hedge fund operations for a global fund manager. But given Scotland’s pre-eminence in the money management industry, where are the roles for front office hedge fund traders and analysts? London is the acknowledged hedge fund centre of action and Scots operations by-and-large are confined... Read more