Fitch hiring CDO expertise

Fitch Ratings is adding staff in preparation for the launch of a new synthetic CDO product.

The new Risk Analytics Platform for Credit Derivatives (RAP-CD) will offer investors an independent means of valuing synthetic collateralised debt obligations (CDOs).

Fitch is hunting for up to ten people to work on the new product, says RAP CD recruiter Isabel Mansfield. "We're looking for two quantitative analysts with a background in either interest rate or credit derivatives, two people to work in sales and marketing and several others for various technology focused roles."

All candidates will need previous experience of working with derivative products.

Given the tightness of the current hiring market, Mansfield acknowledges a flood of candidates would come as a surprise: "We expect to face strong competition to find the right people within a small market." But she says the product offers advantages over working on derivatives desks in banks: "Working on RAP-CD will offer all the benefits and excitement of working for a start-up, but with the cushion of a large and well established organisation behind you."

Although recruiters say bonuses are typically lower in ratings agencies, Mansfield says Fitch aims to be competitive in terms of salaries within the RAP CD group. And she says they will be rewarded with a different work life balance: "You will have all the advantages of working in the front office, without the pressure of the trading floor."