The eFC interview: Lynne Dalgarno, director of HR at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership

After a period of change over the last two years, during which a series of senior employees left for pastures new, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership is aiming to expand in 2011.

We spoke to Lynne Dalgarno, director of HR at the company (below), to discuss SWIP's hiring plans and what it takes to make it through its recruitment process.

How many people do you employ in Europe, and how many of those are based in Scotland?

We have a headcount of around 400 in Edinburgh and roughly 80 in London.

Are you planning on building your team this year? Can you give us an idea of the main areas of recruitment for 2011?

We have quite ambitious recruitment targets this year, and looking to hire between 50-70 people in 2011. That will be across all of our business areas including fund management, sales and marketing and some of the functional teams.

Are there any particular areas where you're looking to hire fund managers?

We've been looking at building our international equities team, because our strategy at the moment is moving towards managing global assets, so we've been looking for fund managers with experience and research skills in this area. In this area, we've announced the appointment of Stephen Corr, James Kinghorn and Craig Bonthron in February, for instance.

We've also been building our fixed income functions - high yield and credit skills are still highly sought after, for example. At the beginning of February we announced our plans to open a US Fixed Income office in New York and have made a number of key hires to drive our expertise in this area.

The other area is within our solutions team - which includes financial modelling and financial solutions - but this is a relatively new breed of fund manager; highly quantitative and mathematical, so this expertise is not in plentiful supply.

A number of Scottish asset management firms have been expanding their global equities teams over the last 12 months. Is the talent pool a little strained?

It's a very sought after specialism, and there's a small core of very good fund managers in this area. As the year goes on I think it will be more challenging to find these people, particularly in Scotland, and we'll have to look further afield.

What are the key drivers for your expansion this year?

Last year we took on 50bn of new assets under management from Insight and there's a need to increase our headcount and skills base to reflect this. It's really the delayed impact of this increased AUM that is driving recruitment into 2011.

In October SWIP was awarded mandates to manage 2.6bn of real estate assets on behalf of the insurance division of Lloyds Banking Group. This is a significant win for SWIP and is testament to the consistency and excellence of our real estate team. With these additional assets, we'll be looking to add around 6-8 people in the real estate team to match this new business.

Do you view being based in Scotland as an advantage or disadvantage to attracting talent?

To some individuals it's a disadvantage because their careers and family lives are very integral to London. But most people are willing to move for the right job opportunity, and it's only a short flight to Edinburgh for those with personal ties to London. We're seeing more of a trend for individuals able to commute - spending Monday to Friday in Scotland and then the weekends in London.

It remains a sell, but it's not as difficult as it used to be because there's a much stronger financial centre here.

Are there any unique characteristics you look for in your new recruits?

Aside from the technical capabilities, the most important thing is the ability to work as part of a team. We're not interested in prima donnas, but want people who can come in and be a fully-functioning part of the team. Somebody who can embrace that culture would be right for us.

Are there any common mistakes people make during interviews?

There are no obvious mistakes, but if we get a sense that they are very arrogant, difficult to deal with or look like being a difficult individual that wouldn't fit into our team-based culture, then we would probably reject them.

SWIP restarted its graduate programme in 2010, and recruited 8 trainee fund managers - double the previous figure. What are your plans for 2011?

Because we had a real gap in our graduate recruitment programme, we doubled our intake this year. We'll be starting 2011's recruitment process in August, and will make a decision on the final intake later in the year, but we're anticipating 4-6 people this year.

Given the reduction in general graduate employment prospects, would you anticipate competition for places being tougher this year?

In the past it's been more about us competing for the same pool of graduates with other fund management houses. Over the years, we've been usurped by other firms for students we've made offers to, but equally we've done the same to other houses. Ultimately, we're looking for a specific type of graduate and are fighting with our competitors for the same talent.

What type of graduates are you looking for?

There's a certain bias towards particular subject areas; we'd be looking for accountancy, law, economics or mathematical graduates, but I also think that engineering graduates fit very well in a research-based asset management business. We would probably have less input from arts and social sciences students and would recruit less from that stream.

Are there any softer skills or attributes graduates can demonstrate?

I like graduates to have been involved in team-based activities - investment or debating society, or a sports club. I also like to see some evidence of relevant work experience or just general life experience during the summer breaks. They also need a genuine interest in asset management - many of our students have managed their own portfolios, even if just on a virtual basis, so can talk knowledgeably about investments that interest them.