Are IT vendors an appealing prospect to stressed out banking techies?
The traditional route of technologists hopping from a third-party vendor to more lucrative investment banking positions is showing some signs of reversing. But those who make this move have motivations other than money.
Rob Flatley, who previously headed Deutsche Bank's Autobahn Equity system, re-surfaced in data vendor, Netik, this week. Similarly, former head of Goldman Sachs' financial technology group, Jeffrey Sloan, took a position at Global Payments earlier this month.
These high profile moves are indicative of an increasing willingness of technologists to move from investment banking towards roles in vendors, suggests Antony Bream, global head of financial services at business process management software firm, Nimbus.
"The people who joined us from investment banking were looking for a better quality of life, a less stressful environment and desire to see projects succeed," he says. "In their previous roles, projects had failed, taken longer than they should have or just not delivered on expectations, which can be a frustrating experience."
Certainly, any technologist looking making the switch across to a tech vendor should not be expecting buckets of cash.
"Base salaries are fairly even, but vendors often offer weaker overall packages, with restricted bonus potentials in comparison to the banks," says Oliver Hinchliffe, team leader at recruiters Project Partners. "In the algo space, there's often an entrepreneurial motivation, with investment banking technologists realising they could make more money by setting up their own operation."
As we've noted previously, a number of financial technology vendors are looking to bolster their teams. However, they now face also stiff competition from the investment banks.
"We're getting to the point where we're placing people who have had four or five offers from investment banks - this is what vendors have to contend with," says Julianne Brooks, director, at IT in finance recruiters the JM Group. "That said, vendors still offer decent salaries, and a less stringent working environment than the banks."
