The new hot skill-set: ETF fund accounting

The European exchange-traded funds (ETF) market was one of the growth stories of 2010. In the City of London, the existing players (and some new kids on the block) were all looking to gain a bigger slice of the market and poaching relatively scarce talent away from one another.

But Ireland has also benefited from this.

At 28%, the proportion of European ETFs domiciled in Ireland has remained constant, but the figure has now swelled to €44bn, according figures from the BlackRock ETF Landscape 2010.

The European market surged by an impressive 36% last year, according to figures from Deutsche Bank, and is tipped to grow by a more modest 13.2% in 2011.

Ireland's fund administrators have taken note, and are building their teams in this area. According to recruitment sources, Brown Brothers Harriman, State Street and HSBC have been hiring and BNY Mellon is currently on the hunt for a head of ETF accounting for its Cork office.

Fund accountants with ETF expertise are not exactly a rare commodity in Ireland, but recruitment is more of a challenge than more traditional product areas. With demand picking up, this supply of talent is likely to become strained.

"A number of fund administrators have won some lucrative ETF mandates and are growing their teams according," says Patrick Kelly, senior manager at Irish headhunters Lincoln Search & Selection. "But it's a demanding role - ETFs have unique operational features which require a specific expertise in human capital and systems, and this expertise is still relatively hard to come by."

At the junior ranks, firms are still unwilling to pay a premium for those with ETF experience. But, should you make into a senior position then there's a definite uplift.

Kelly says that a senior manager position pays €90-120k, while directors can expect €120-150k. By contrast, a fund accounting manager earns between €60-80k in Dublin, according to the Morgan McKinley 2011 salary survey.