Five Jobs That Look to be Hot in 2011

Here's a list of hot jobs for 2011. For starters, think technology, wealth management, energy M&A and compliance.

High Frequency Order Management Developer/Hedge Funds

Kyle Ramkisson, principal and founder of hedge fund recruiter IJC Partners in New York, is looking for three or four times as many Order Management Systems (OMS) experts as he was a year ago. One reason: "A lot of firms over the past year have been trying to get into high frequency trading and increase their speed."

Electronic Trading Risk Analyst/Software Developer

The pickup in IT searches stems in part from the need to code new rules into trading and OMS systems in response to changes required by Dodd-Frank and the Volcker Rule, among other things. That's led to an increasing need for trading compliance professionals on both the buy and sell sides at major banks as well as hedge funds, especially "the big, registered hedge funds," notes Ramkisson.

Senior Leveraged Finance Originator

Richard Lipstein of Boyden Executive Search in New York forecasts an upswing in searches, "if financial markets cooperate," and thinks there may be opportunities in syndication as well.

And the market might well cooperate: New-issue loan volume climbed to a three-year high of $70 billion in the fourth quarter, from $54 billion in the third quarter and $27 billion during the final three months of 2009.

Drilling down to the institutional segment, the story was the same, says Standard & Poor's: "Volume totaled $51 billion in the fourth quarter, also a three-year high, from $35 billion during the prior three months and $18 billion during the comparable period in 2009."

Managing Directors, M&A - Energy, Metals and Mining, or Alternative Energy

Who can forget Stephen Trauber's wildly generous pay package at Citi? He jumped from the Houston-based energy operation at UBS earlier on the promise of some $30 million assuming he met performance goals. Now, recruiters anticipate emerging market demandc will drive continued heat in energy, alternative energy, and metals/mining M&A.

Credit Risk Officers

Recruiter Jay Gaines & Co had this title on a recent list of new and recently closed searches. In this case the search was on behalf of a large mutual find's institutional products group. Banks, too, remain on the prowl for compliance people to support risk protocols. Given new government rules, 2011 is sure to be a busy time for risk professionals, but the growth spurt could be short-lived, particularly since risk-related roles don't generate revenue. So before you accept a compliance role, consider whether the position will help train you for other key roles in the organization, so you can move on when the time comes.