Why NAMA's appeal as a place to work has just increased
Irish banks are getting smaller, but Ireland's 'bad' bank NAMA is about to grow larger. Although it only has a relatively diminutive team currently, NAMA is hiring and its appeal as a place to work has just increased.
One of the less-noticed elements of the €85bn EU-IMF bailout is that NAMA is set to take on another €16bn in loans, essentially clearing out all developer loans from Bank of Ireland an AIB.
Previously, NAMA wouldn't take on loans under €20m, but this has changed following the rescue package.
NAMA is, of course, already dealing with the loans of more than 850 developers worth €74.3bn. What's more, it's doing this with a headcount of just 75, some of which will be working in legal functions rather than in credit management.
It does, however, intend on increasing this figure to 100 by the end of the year, but a fresh bought of work courtesy of the EU/IMF - to be transferred by March next year - is likely to involve further recruitment.
When NAMA was initially recruiting towards the beginning of the year, it received over 2,000 CVs and it's likely that any new roles will prove equally as popular.
"The clamour for roles in NAMA has calmed down over the course of this year, but its appeal is likely to pick up in light of reduced opportunities within the banking sector," says Eoin Blake, director at Lincoln Search & Selection in Dublin.
As working for NAMA is essentially moving into the public sector, there's likely to be some reticence in terms of what it's able - or willing - to pay.
NAMA salaries have been kept under wraps, but it was revealed previously that employees will be exempt from the public sector pay cuts occurring elsewhere.
The National Treasury Management Agency, which oversees NAMA, also revealed last year that senior staff earned over €200k, 27 employees received €100-200k, another 22 took in €80-100k and the remaining 91 staff earned under €80k. The average bonus was around €21k.
But NAMA is certainly holding its own with the private sector when it comes to pay, suggests one Irish headhunter who declined to be named.
"I was about to place a lending manager in one of the Irish banks for around €80k, but he decided to take a job in NAMA which was offering more in terms of base and benefits on offer," he says.
NAMA is currently recruiting for lending manager and lending analyst positions, which require a mix of financial modelling, portfolio management and relationship management expertise, as well as a minimum of six years real estate finance experience for more senior positions.
There's likely to be no shortage of this experience on the Irish market after the fall out from the financial crisis, but NAMA is believed to be employing more direct methods to ensure it gets the people it wants.
"The rumour is that if you're working on the specialist NAMA teams within an Irish bank and you impress them, they'll try and sway you across to the other side," suggests one Irish recruiter who declined to be named.
