Are Citi and JP Morgan really particularly safe places to be in Ireland?

If you've been following announcements of swathing redundancies within international investment banks over the last month, you'll have seen two notable absentees from the carnage - JP Morgan and Citi. Both have significant operations in Ireland, but are these entirely safe?

JP Morgan doesn't expect job cuts in its investment bank, while Citi is believed to still be building out its wholesale division.

In Ireland, however, perhaps the picture isn't so rosy. Both firms have recently filed accounts in the Companies Registration Office for the last year, and it's a mixed bag.

In the case of JP Morgan Bank (Ireland), it looks relatively positive - pre-tax profits increased 6% to $15m for 2010, assets under management swelled by nearly 14% to $192m and staff numbers rose to 526 (from 511 in 2009).

The above is for its Worldwide Securities Services business, but the situation isn't so sanguine at its Dublin-based hedge fund admin arm. Pre-tax losses for 2010 were $1.6m, this is down from being $4.3m in the red in 2009, but is a loss nonetheless.

The question is whether it's likely to cut costs, and possibly make redundancies.

The sentiment coming out of the company suggests not; it says it's looking to build out its operation to a broader client base. Headhunters in Ireland tell us the firm is still offering "limited" job opportunities.

Job cuts coming at Citi?

Citi employs over 2,200 people in Ireland across a wide range of business areas and has made some effusive announcements about increasing its headcount. It's recruiting for its global transaction service business and for technology roles, but could it pare back its fund services headcount?

Potentially.

Costs seem like a big problem. Citi Fund Services (Ireland) posted a loss of $16.4m for the year ending 30 April 2011. Operating income came in at $28.6m, but its expenses ($45.1m) far outstripped revenues. Of this, staff costs were $25.4m.

Headcount increased by 27% year-on-year (primarily through incorporating its mutual fund services business into the group), but the firm says it's focused on "re-engineering and expense reduction initiatives".

Despite this, recruiters tell us both firms are still hiring, and that rumours of significant redundancies have not been forthcoming.

In some ways this makes sense; competition for staff in Ireland's funds sector is increasing and there are regulatory drivers that could spur more jobs within hedge fund admin in particular.

These results, however, suggest it's not an entirely safe place to be.