Risk Management
Market Overview
James Baker
Associate Director
Hiring levels within risk management have increased significantly during 2022, and similarly to the compliance space, this shows little sign of slowing down.
Credit Risk
Over the past 12 months, financial services organisations have performed well, and corporate lending has played a significant part in this. This has led to increased demand for credit risk professionals who have experience working on transactions from origination to execution. Key areas of demand have been in leveraged/ structured finance, hedge funds and restructuring. As a result, VP-level candidates are commanding higher salaries, up to £140,000 at a corporate level which would have historically ranged between £125,000 - £130,000. Despite a recession, corporate lending and debt restructuring will remain busy in 2023. We foresee the credit sector being a lively area for hiring this year.
2019 VP-level salary
2023 VP-level salary
Market Risk
Traditional desk-facing market risk teams have been the most mature functions due to their development post-2008 crash, and over the past years, hiring has been through attrition or sustained growth. Throughout 2022, there was an increased demand for market risk professionals due to the strong performance of the banks and a requirement to ensure that risk management capabilities can keep up with this growth. There has been a specific demand for candidates with Commodities experience, with multiple Investment Banks hiring at senior levels in this specialism.
Operational Risk/Resilience
Traditionally financial risk has been the focus for hiring within the risk sphere due to the clear and measurable impact these functions have on the business. The past two years, exacerbated by the pandemic, have catapulted non-financial risk and controls to the forefront of the minds of financial services firms. With the pandemic highlighting inefficiencies, and high-profile breaches at top institutions, operational risk/resilience have also been under the spotlight of the regulators who have implemented new controls that must be adhered to. This 'perfect storm', teamed with a change of strategy by many businesses to put non-financial risk/controls teams in the front office, has drastically increased demand for candidates.
The fight for talent is incredibly fierce and has resulted in candidates receiving offers up to
more than their current compensation.