Salary survey: Project finance pay rises in mixed recruitment market

Average earnings for project finance professionals have risen after a turbulent period, according to new research from the Monks consultancy, but the increase may be down to a slew of redundancies in the sector.

Heads of department in the UK received average bonuses of 56% in 2002, up from 39% in 2001, the research found. Monks, which mainly surveys medium-sized and small companies, said salaries of project finance staff rose by 10% in the past year. Senior managers' bonuses rose from 26% to 31%, according to the survey.

Headhunters said the rise could reflect layoffs in the sector last year, with survivors receiving a larger slice of an often smaller pie.

Owen Beere, a consultant at Harvey Glynne, said: "Some larger institutions such as Deutsche and Bank of America have all but pulled out of project finance." Telecoms and oil and gas were among the worst hit sectors.

Beere said accountancy firms such as KPMG and Deloitte & Touche had hired some project finance staff from banks. Others had joined government agencies or left to run equity funds.

However, companies such as Macquarie and CIT have been making hires, and other search consultants said Société Générale and Barclays Capital had also taken on project finance staff. Both SG and Barclays have been among the most aggressive recruiters in fixed income this year. SG has been particularly active in the project and infrastructure finance sectors.

Ted Tracey, a consultant at the search firm Mantaray, said project finance remained buoyant in the UK and much of Europe in infrastructure projects such as roads and airports.

Italy has been particularly active and should remain so, as regulatory changes were making securitisation easier.

Tracey added many project finance staff were increasingly integrated with securitisation teams. Project finance deals are often refinanced using securitisation.