Where, exactly, are all these Scottish asset management jobs?
There are many reasons for optimism around the Scottish fund management industry. The three biggest players north of the border now have assets under management of over 450bn, and firms are understandably bullish about recruitment plans for the coming 12 months. So, where are the jobs likely to be?
Admittedly, a key driver of this increase is down to Aberdeen Asset Management's acquisition spree, and the firm's AUM currently stands at over 146bn. Martin Gilbert's empire now includes RBS's fund management arm, which means some 65 staff will transfer over to Aberdeen in mid-February.
Recent signs of life
Scotland's big three - Aberdeen, Standard Life Investments (SLI) and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) - have been doing rather well, as the Times points out. Recruiters tell us they've also been providing the bulk of recruitment activity - most recently, SWIP's appointment of Giulio Ponte as senior high yield analyst in Edinburgh.
SWIP also unveiled Mark Connelly as director of its fixed income team in early January, a role which Andrew Tunks was previously performing on an interim basis. The firm has slowly been re-building its fixed income team following the defections to Alliance Trust last year, and is also recruiting for other front office positions.
Connelly joins from SLI, which also lost Pauline McPherson to Aegon Asset Management in January. She joins as a senior investment manager within its European equities team. Not surprisingly, SLI is currently looking to bolster its team.
Outside of the big three, Martin Currie added two new fund managers to its global equities team in November last year.
Boutiques want to recruit too
It would be wrong to suggest that smaller firms don't also have an appetite to hire, says Graeme Knox, managing director of fund management focused headhunters, Knox Consulting.
"What we're seeing is a backlog of desire to add numbers, which firms are now able to move forward with," he says. "There's been an element of turnover in the fixed income space, but the biggest area of development is within global equities. There's a real shortage of this talent in Scotland."
"Global equities is an area that will continue to grow and one where there is a fairly shallow pool of talent," adds Katie Crook, HR business partner at Martin Currie. "I'd also expect an ongoing demand for compliance and risk expertise - particularly portfolio risk - and again demand will exceed supply."
Cornelian Asset Management is believed to be looking to recruit a fund manager, but did not respond to calls to confirm this.
This week, senior managers at Edinburgh-based Artemis Investment Management teamed up with US investment firm Affiliated Managers Group to buy back the firm from Fortis Bank just over a year after the sale.
Chief executive Mark Tyndall said the move would: "Allow us to continue to attract and retain talented staff." He also hinted at growth in the UK, Europe and Middle East.
Recruiters Joslin Rowe suggested in their latest Scottish financial services recruitment review that the fund management industry was the most active recruiter in 2009, and that it was one of the few sectors to offer pay rises of up to 10%.
