Junior salaries surge amid talent drought

Entry-level fund administrators have seen pay increases of 17% over the last year as Ireland leads the way in Western Europe salary hikes.

The 2007/08 salary survey by recruiters Joslin Rowe says that the typical pay for entry-level and junior fund administrators is €30k - up from €25k in 2006.

A separate study into potential salary rises, by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, says that Ireland is predicted to increase pay by an average of 4.7% - the highest in Western Europe.

Joslin Rowe's survey says the range for entry and junior-level fund administrators - in both fund admin and fund accounting - is €27k to €35k. The range last year was €23 to €28k.

It seems it's just the newbees who are walking off with a decidedly fatter pay packet. Average salaries for senior administrators, supervisors, managers and senior managers have remained constant at €35k, €46k, €65k and €70k+ respectively.

Nor is there any indication that inflated bonuses are being offered as an additional tasty incentive. They remained within the 5-15% range, so the talent shortage in Ireland's fund admin sector has yet to prompt investment banking-style remuneration.

Joslin Rowe also suggests employers are shying away from recruiting raw graduates and demanding recruits come tooled up for the job. This finding goes against industry players who spoke to eFinancial Careers, and said graduates are being aggressively targeted in Ireland.

Anecdotal evidence also suggests candidates might have to wait a couple of years before they see the top end of range. An industry source told us that JPMorgan and Citigroup start at €28k, the country's biggest fund administrator State Street slightly lower at €27k, and Bank of Ireland at just €24k. This is unconfirmed by the organisations concerned.