Fixed income rare bright spot in summer hiring lull - AMGM survey

Banks have continued to hire a few staff for fixed income positions during the last month or so, but overall the financial services job market in London has been predictably quiet during the holiday season, a report by the headhunter Alexander Mann Global Markets said.

It said fixed income sales and distribution staff were particularly in demand. Firms continued to hire opportunistically if presented with strong individuals across bonds, interest rates and credit sales and trading.

However there were signs of a hiring slowdown while budget planning for next year takes place.

While there is some demand for credit derivatives traders, most houses remain reluctant to approve bonus guarantees, the report said. The hiring of one employee is often accompanied by the enforced departure of one or two others, which leads firms to consider any hiring decision very carefully.

Asset management recruitment remains a buyer's market, with headhunters offering suitable candidates to clients wherever they have had a 'steer' from them on likely areas of interest.

People within the more quantitative aspects of credit risk management are in demand, however. Increasingly, credit portfolio management teams are looking for individuals to develop more sophisticated models for the pricing and management of credit risk.

In the compliance sector, there is some demand for middle-to-junior roles that are function and/or product specific. Research, account opening, anti-money laundering and registration positions are among the increasingly active areas.

Both equity and fixed income floor-based compliance staff are needed by all of the larger banks across all levels, the report said.

But at senior levels in compliance a number of institutions are chasing the same people, the survey added. Some of the firms have been looking for over six months and in isolated cases, for over a year.

This was because few experienced compliance officers are willing to move from their current position, said AMGM.