Super hiring is still staying strong

The value of some super funds may have fallen this year, but there's certainly been no decline in superannuation recruitment, especially if you're a financial planner. And while industry funds offer more job vacancies, pay and bonuses are better at private funds.

"Super hiring just hasn't taken a hit. The last few months have been very busy compared to sectors like fund management which have frozen up," says Kate Agouridis, a consultant at Robert Walters.

The compulsory nature of superannuation ensures a constant flow of money into funds - even when the stock market is in decline - so demand for staff is ongoing, says Sarah Wapling, a practice leader at Link Recruitment.

The majority of hiring is happening within industry funds such as REST, Hostplus, Vision Super and Australian Super, where senior financial planners are particularly sought after. Wapling adds: "Industry funds have been setting up financial planning teams for about five years but in the last 18 months demand has really shot up."

Candidates for these roles tend to be financial planners from commercial banks who already have some knowledge of the super system.

The banks are a feeder for the funds across other roles too, says Agouridis. "We've had commercial banking candidates come to us as a result of recent market conditions. There are new roles being generated, especially in jobs like quality assurance and data integrity. It's not just replacement hiring," she adds.

For financial planner roles, entry-level managers can expect a base salary of about AU$100k, rising to AU$500k for managing directors in large funds, says Wapling.

Salaries at private funds tend to be about 10-20% higher than industry ones. Mercer is the leading hirer among the privates, with AMP, BT, ING, MLC and Plum also active, according to one recruiter who asked not to be named.

Wapling adds that industry funds, which are not for profit, tend not to pay bonuses. By contrast, top performers can earn up to about 50% of their base salary in bonuses and some funds have uncapped bonuses.