Financial Services Interims Earning Highest Rates Ever

Financial Services Interims Earning Highest Rates Ever

• Financial sector interim managers’ daily rates rise 12% in 2011, 6% higher than 2008

• Growing demand for change focussed interims with risk & compliance expertise boosts average pay

• Interim workforce forecast to grow 5% in 2011

The average daily rates for financial services interim managers are at their highest level since 2008, according to research carried out by Kinsey Allen International, the global executive search firm.

The average daily rate for an interim manager working in the financial services sector has reached £725 per day – 6% higher than the average rate in 2008 (£675). Prior to 2011, rates had fallen slightly for two successive years – falling by 3% to £655 in 2009, and by a further 1% in 2010. The growth at the start of 2011 represents an increase of nearly 12% compared to last year

The sharp rise in rates can be attributed to the continuing demand for interims with risk and compliance expertise. Businesses looking to adapt to changing regulations in the financial services sector are competing for candidates with strong risk, compliance and regulatory backgrounds. However, with these candidates in such short supply, they command a premium – which is forcing up average daily rates.

Lucinda Brown, Managing Director at Kinsey Allen International comments: “The surge in demand for financial services interim managers in the latter half of 2010 has accelerated since the turn of the year. Larger firms are less hesitant about hiring interims for projects as growth programmes gather momentum and there is a growing appetite for candidates with in-depth knowledge of risk, compliance and change management. These skills are needed in order to meet the new regulatory framework and to resolve merger/integration challenges. With these professionals so hard to come by, average daily rates are climbing.”

In terms of workforce size, the overall number of financial services interims fell away between 2006 and 2007. After the credit crunch took hold businesses were less confident about the future of the market, and needed to cut their workforces accordingly. However, numbers recovered to approximately 2,100 in 2009 as businesses struggling to cope with workloads began to hire interims because of freezes to permanent recruitment. In 2010, the workforce contracted by nearly 10% as many interims were made permanent or found permanent roles elsewhere. The size of this dip in 2010 was mitigated by organisations driving forward internal change programmes and reacting to elevated regulatory pressures.

Based on the trends witnessed over the second half of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, Kinsey Allen International forecast the financial services interim workforce to grow by 5% by the end of the year.

Lucinda Brown continues: “In the latter stages of 2009 and early 2010, the size of the interim workforce in the financial sector dipped. This was due to the exodus of employees forced into the interim market because of redundancies at the height of the recession finding permanent positions. This dip would have been greater if demand for change and risk professionals hadn’t continued to flourish. But this downward trend won’t continue as many businesses are now pushing even harder to comply with new regulations and interims are in even more demand as a result. The niche skills required to support this demand are boosting daily rates, and more and more candidates are being enticed into the interim workforce.”

The financial sector’s demand for specific skills and experience has maintained the gulf between the average interim manager’s salary and one working in financial services. In 2008, at £627 per day, the average interim manager earned 7% less than an interim manager working in the financial sector. By 2010, the average daily rate for non-financial services interims was down to £596 per day, and the gulf had grown to over 9%. However, Kinsey Allen International expects daily rates of non-financial services interim to rise to £665 in 2011 as demand steps up for interims to work on projects put on hold by the recession.