Performance measurement to tap techies

Adding IT to the mix in performance measurement roles - an area tipped to take off in 2008 - can lead to a hefty hike in your salary.

Headcount in the performance measurement space is tipped to rise by 14%, according to a survey by recruiters Project Partners, as asset managers struggle against market volatility and increasingly complex investment portfolios.

Talent in the area is already scarce, and as fund managers look to replace existing IT platforms with third-party vendor systems, technical knowledge means you can command a premium.

Oliver Hinchliffe, senior consultant at Project Partners, says: "There's a big demand for people with coding skills to work on systems integration. It's a current fad, someone with three years' experience in performance measurement can get 40k-45k. Add technical skills to the mix and they'll be looking at 60k-65k."

On the other side of the fence, an implementation consultant working for a vendor can get even more. Recruiters say the right candidate with performance measurement experience and expert fund analytics software knowledge can haul in 70k-80k.

However, Paul Elworthy, associate director in the IT and banking finance division of recruitment firm Hudson, says you might be better off going it alone.

"The nature of such specialist knowledge means those with third-party vendor expertise are suited to the contractor market. They can command a premium, but it's still cheaper than what a firm would pay a consultant from the vendors themselves."

He says business analysts can expect 600 a day, project managers up to 700 and programme managers up to 900.