Irish fund admin's booming, but for how long?
Ireland's fund administration industry is booming but (whisper it) some recruiters are worried a shortage of skilled graduates could put the brakes on future growth.
Assets under administration in Ireland topped €1.4 trillion last year, predominantly hedge and alternative investment funds, says Gary Palmer, chief executive of the Irish Funds Industry Association.
"Irish domiciled schemes grew by 25% and the administration of non-Irish domiciled schemes by 40% last year. Similar growth is expected this year," he stresses.
Little surprise, therefore, that employment's rising too - last year the number of people employed by Ireland's fund administration industry rose 22%. This year, another 15% increase is on the cards.
Where are all these new staff coming from? Palmer points to the fact that a thousand graduates were hired last year, and the industry extended its tendrils beyond Dublin to more abundant labour markets in regional centres such as Cork, Galway, Wexford, Kilkenny and Limerick.
But some in the market are painting a less rosy picture. Recruiter Robert Walters has warned that some roles, such as fund accounting managers or transfer agents, who help shift securities from one owner to another, are now taking as long as three to four months to fill.
"It is becoming more competitive," agrees Ronan Colleran, a director at Dublin-based recruitment firm Accreate. "There are fewer skilled employees available and other jurisdictions are becoming more competitive from the tax point of view."
What this means is that big administrators such as Citco, while still expanding in Ireland (it announced 120 new jobs in Cork last month) are also looking at other jurisdictions; it was recently granted a licence to trade in former minnow Guernsey, for example.
Funds being administered by the Channel Island now total 140.4bn, and have risen 26% in the past year, says John Marren of the Guernsey Investment Funds Association (and himself Irish).
Salaries are by and large on a par with Ireland. "We have a lot of Scots and Irish coming over and we've recently been spreading the net further afield to places such as Mauritius," he points out.
