Mega-money for the MiFID moguls

Pay for MiFID-savvy technologists is rising fast. And it hasn't reached the top yet.

New research, from technology recruitment firm Project Partners, suggests pay for MiFID contractors has risen as much as 17% since last January alone, with experienced candidates commanding the biggest rises.

Project managers with five years' experience of working in the financial services industry, and specific MiFID-related expertise to boot, can now command between 850 and 1,200 a day, according to Project Partners.

Even project managers with two to three years' experience gained outside the financial services industry can move into a MiFID-related role on between 650 and 750 per day.

Simon Walker, a director at Project Partners, told attendees at a seminar last week that rates have risen in line with rising demand: "At the end of last year we saw a big increase in the number of project manager roles."

Pay for MiFID-related project managers may well have plateaued now, Walker told attendees. But he says it's set to rise for the likes of test managers, business analysts and impact analysts - who are all set to become more sought after in the months to come.

A lack of experienced MiFID professionals means banks are increasingly willing to take candidates with experience of other regulatory changes. Basel II experience is particularly sought after, followed by Sarbanes Oxley, and the shift to the euro.