Ireland's quant quandary

James Hayes, manager - banking and financial services, at recruiter Robert Walters, says hires with a quant PhD and no commercial experience can expect to command starting salaries of €65k to €70k, due to increased demand and scarcity of candidates.

He adds: "The subsequent 12 months' experience gained within an asset management or capital markets function will enable them to command a significantly greater salary and package - around €75k to €80k, with a 60% bonus in a good year."

Irish quants' pay still lags slightly behind London counterparts, with top-tier investment banks in the City of London paying entry-level salaries of 57k to 60k (€75 to €80k), according to recruiters Huxley Associates. But a strong euro and weakening pound is making the Dublin figures more tantalising.

Although local universities like UCD Michael Smurfitt School of Business and Dublin City University offer quant-related courses, recruiters say there still aren't enough Irish candidates to go around.

"Some of the larger institutions who have their offices in Dublin have increasingly focused their recruitment campaigns in places like Geneva, London and Paris, as supply in Ireland seems to have diminished at the moment," says Hayes.

Firms most aggressively recruiting quants in Ireland include AIB Capital Markets, Pioneer Investments, and Susquehanna.

Johanna Kelly, senior consultant at recruiters FK International, says the types of roles needed are changing: "In the last year we have seen a lot of need for quantitative analysts. However, since the credit crunch there have been an increased number of roles in the credit risk area, for the larger banks, and more of the roles are on the structuring side - in accounting and risk management."