Why FX and equities are still offering plentiful opportunities to technologists

With all the talk of cloud computing, compliance projects and FICC electronification, it's easy to forget that there's still a decent amount of technology hiring going on in two mainstay areas - cash equities and foreign exchange.

Barclays Capital, JP Morgan and UBS are all recruiting technologists for cash equities IT, while Citi, Nomura and RBS have hired recently, according to recruiters. SocGen, BNP Paribas and UBS are all taking techies on in FX.

It's easy to see why. In its huge report into the outlook for investment banking, Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman pointed to how around 30% of all costs in cash equities and spot FX are allocated to IT, compared to less than 20% in areas like FICC and equity derivatives.

And, it suggests, revenues in cash equities are tipped to rise by 5-10% this year.

Numerous players - SocGen, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Nomura, Mediobanca - have all been looking to enter or expand in equities, it says. Much of the IT recruitment is taking place outside of the established players.

"The main motivation for IT recruitment in the cash equities space is a desire to gain market share from the bigger players," says Justin Willis, director of IT recruiters Bright Purple. "Because technology is so central, there's a definite need to play catch up."

FX has long been a fertile area of recruitment for technologists - over 60% of trades are now conducted electronically, according to Morgan Stanley-Oliver Wyman estimate - but the types of projects being rolled out by banks are becoming more complex.

"FX is very much a candidate-driven market," says Paul Bennie, director of IT in finance recruiters Bennie McLean. "It's no longer just about building an e-commerce platform, but more about the lowest latency through electronic trading and, increasingly, building algorithmic trading platforms."