Why corporate bankers in Ireland are receiving pay rises

It hasn't been a great couple of years for corporate bankers in Ireland, what with redundancies, pay cuts and the whole finger-pointed-for-the-country's-economic-meltdown thing. But their situation is starting to look up.

Salaries for commercial and corporate bankers have actually increased over the course of 2010, on the back of greater demand for their services.

The rise is most pronounced at the senior end; relationship managers with over five years' experience can now expect €85-100k (up from €69-85k last year), according to the 2011 Robert Walters Salary Survey. But, as the table below shows, pay has increased across the board, from junior credit analysts to senior assistant relationship managers.

Source: Robert Walters. From left to right figures refer to 1-3 years' experience, 3-5 years' experience and 5+ years' experience. Figures in bold refer to 2011, plain text to 2010.

"A number of international entities have been hiring at mid-senior relationship manager level," says Paul O'Reilly, senior consultant - banking and insurance at Robert Walters in Ireland. "There has been a focus on hiring RMs with extensive cashflow and trading entity credit backgrounds both at SME and corporate level, as these banks are looking to grow their Irish books."

Among the international banks to have hired include HSBC, Barclays, BNP Paribas, KBC and Danske (through NIB), according to recruiters.

But while the commercial banking teams in the bigger domestic banks may have been scaled back, headcount in the teams servicing large Irish and multinational corporates have remained broadly stable. And, when people have departed, banks have been willing to replace them.

"A lot of the corporate banking divisions within the domestic banks have remained profitable, and firms have been willing to recruit to keep staff numbers stable," says Eoin Blake, director of financial headhunters Lincoln Search & Selection. "But international banks have been paying bonuses throughout the crisis and this, combined with a stronger brand name that has made it easier to attract clients, means they've been more successful in hiring corporate bankers."

But working in corporate banking in Ireland is no longer primarily about who you know, and it's the technical skills that are commanding a premium, suggests O'Reilly.

"Clients are also looking for individuals with broader financial analytical skills, so relationship managers who have undertaken professional qualifications have seen salary increases," he says.

These salary rises could simply be seen as pay for corporate bankers returning to competitive levels again. In 2009, corporate banking relationship managers with more than five years' experience could have expected €80-103k, suggested Robert Walters.