The rising tide of interim recruitment
Investment banks and other financial services firms are increasingly turning to interim managers as they both battle new regulations and roll out projects that were put on ice before the onset of the financial crisis.
Working as an interim manager within financial services is lucrative work if you can get it - these roles typically pay 1,000-2000 a day and, according to various interim recruiters, have risen by 15-20% over the last four months alone.
Meanwhile, research from recruiters Interim Partners suggests that the number of assignments in the banking sector has risen by 44% over the last quarter alone.
Unfortunately, you'll have to be very experienced, with most interim executives coming with around 20 years' industry time under their belts, according to Nick Robeson, CEO of interim recruiters Alium Partners.
Investment banks, building societies and insurance firms are increasingly turning to interims for projects around acquisitions, disposals, refinancing, cash and treasury management, governance, regulation and compliance, according to Alium Partners' research.
"Financial services firms have been by far the biggest recruiters of interim executives over the last three to four months," says Robeson. "A lot of projects and programmes were put on hold when the financial crisis hit and it's only now that they've had the resources to start them again."
A number of banks are taking on interims for integration work, after a raft of financial sector mergers in the wake of Lehman's collapse. However, firms are also battling increasingly onerous regulatory requirements, both from the FSA as well as around capital adequacy requirements set out by Solvency II and Basel III.
After some brutal cuts in the wake of the financial crisis a number of "high calibre individuals" with an investment banking background are shunning the permanent life for that of an interim manager, suggests Robeson.
"They're free of the constraints of permanent employment, and are taking their skill-set and capability from one organisation to the other to deliver change at pace," he says.
