IE
Hedge fund admin hit by global crisis
6 November 2008
With hedge fund administrator Citco suddenly switching from expansion mode to making around 100 staff redundant, what are their chances of finding another job in this space in the current turbulent market?
In February, Citco was saying it planned to create an additional 150 jobs in its Cork hedge fund administration operation over three years. Around the same time, another big hedge fund admin player, Bank of New York Mellon, said it was to double in size in Ireland.
But last week Citco announced that up to 100 staff could be laid off, reflecting a dramatic reversal of fortune for the firm as a result of the recent turbulence in the global markets.
What opportunities does the hedge fund admin space now offer? Not many, it seems. Paul Cotter, director of financial services recruiter Cotter Personnel, tells us: “Those on the market will struggle to find a new position, because there just isn’t the volume of vacancies out there at the moment. Companies who up until six months ago were aggressively recruiting have suddenly stopped.”
Robin Craig, director of financial recruiters Careers Compass, echoes this statement: “Hedge fund administration firms have expanded massively in the last two years, but recently their revenues have been down by around 20-30%. There are still roles out there but the hiring frenzy is over.”
The latest publicly available figures are pretty out of date, but show that as at December last year the NAV of alternative investment funds in Ireland stood at around $1 trillion, according to figures from the Irish Funds Industry Association.
Growth is likely to have slowed this year, but that doesn’t mean firms don’t need some new hires, it’s just that getting the go ahead is increasingly difficult, says Kate Thomas, manager, banking at finance at Premier.
“Companies are in a difficult position at the moment, and good staff are in demand, but the approval for new hires is not forthcoming,” she says.
