Scotland's fund accountants securing pay rises again

After a period of stagnation, Scotland's investment operations sector is looking - dare we say it - positively buoyant. The result is that salaries are on the rise again.

Barclays' announcement last week that it was to create 600 roles in Edinburgh over a number of years is the latest boon for the sector. Hundreds of these roles have already been filled, meaning that many investment operations firms in Scotland have significant gaps to fill.

BlackRock, in particular, has also been bolstering its operations in Scotland, according to recruitment sources. The likes of Citigroup, BNP Paribas and State Street are all believed to be adding to their ranks again.

This is largely because of a need to replenish staff numbers, but there's also a degree of expansion, suggest sources.

Recruiters suggest that many firms are resorting to counter-offers to stop staff departing - particularly fund accountants - which is driving up salaries.

"People are moving for an average lift of 10-20% on their current salary," says Mike Stirton, associate director at Change Recruitment in Edinburgh.

"The real money, however, is in contract work. I recently placed a fund accountant earning 32k per annum into a contract role paying 450 a day. These contracts are initially for three to six months, but the initial length tends to be more of a budgetary issue as apposed to how long the need is, and most are extended after this period."

Let's not forget that in early 2008, investment operations professionals in Scotland were frequently switching jobs - often purely to secure a pay rise - which created a skill-shortage in the sector. Although we're still a way off from this, candidates are realising their value again.

"There's definitely more optimism in the sector and candidates do seem more open to moving firms, no doubt recognising the value of their experience and skills," says Alan Thornborrow, chief investment officer of Scottish Investment Operations.

Scotland only has a finite number of fund accountants, despite firms' suggestions that the primary motivation for kick-starting operations is to gain access to the plentiful supply of skilled investment operations professionals north of the border.

Moves are being made to address this - SIO has unveiled a series of training initiatives recently, including its Diploma in Investment Accounting and its Introduction to Investment Operations course.