Irish fund administrators pondering more job cuts

A proportion of Ireland's fund administrators are likely to enact redundancy and redeployment strategies in 2009 as the industry feels the impact of the global financial crisis.

This year's profits are under pressure, with 30% of fund administrators expecting to see a reduction in revenue in 2008, according to the latest Deloitte Fund Administration in Europe survey.

The reduction in assets under management has begun to take its toll on the fees earned by fund administrators.

Ireland's fund administration landscape has shifted from one of frenzied hiring and high attrition rates, to reduced recruitment levels and possible job cuts.

Brian Forrester, financial services partner at Deloitte Ireland and author of the report, says: "Already we have seen reductions in staff numbers here and the emphasis for Irish fund administrators must be to assess their business models and act now to increase efficiencies in order to maintain service levels for their clients whilst managing their own profit margins which are under pressure."

The (slightly) good news is that just 14 of the 63 respondents to the survey said they were considering redundancy and redeployment programmes. However, over 83% said they expected to make fewer hires in the next 12 months.

So, how can you make yourself more employable? Well, a wise move might be to get out of the hedge fund space. Over 55% of Ireland's administration within alternative assets is of hedge funds, and this is an area investors are likely to shy away from going forward.

Forrester says the shift to more conservative investment products will; "Require fund administrators who have heavily invested in the people and processes to support alternative asset classes to review and align their capabilities."

In October 2007, 95% of Irish respondents to Deloitte's survey predicted little or no impact from the credit crunch.