Scramble for Risk Managers Boosts Their Pay - Financial Times 17th November 2009
November 19th, 2009
A rush by financial services companies to hire interim managers who specialise in risk and compliance work has driven their pay up by 50 per cent over the past two years, according to a leading provider of such managers.
Interim managers with risk and compliance experience were typically earning up to £1,000 per day before the credit crunch, but many are now earning up to £1,500 according to Interim Partners. Companies are seeking temporary managers to bolster their in-house expertise as risk officers are increasingly asked to challenge decisions by operational managers.
The move is part of a shift in power within banks and financial companies from sales staff and traders towards those dealing with credit control, risk and compliance.
Barclays recently appointed Robert Le Blanc, chief risk officer, and other control and governance managers to its group executive committee.
Jane Hanson, a consultant who advises companies on interim posts, said the shift had been given increased urgency by Sir David Walker’s report on governance in the financial services sector.
“There is now an increased requirement for more experienced, more commercially focused risk management and compliance professionals to operate at a high level often at the top table,” she said.
This was demanding new skills from risk officers, who were required to analyse and challenge executives’ decisions on issues such as portfolio acquisition, pricing or product type, instead of focusing on reporting as they did previously.
Ms Hanson said directors from other parts of the business were increasingly moving to risk roles because of their high profile.
Andrew McIntee, head of financial services practice at Interim Partners, said that before the credit crunch, compliance and risk were sometimes seen as a necessary evil.
“Now the value of these previously unsung heroes is being recognised. They have more say over what deals get done than at any time since the last recession” he said.
“As with all rare skills, the pool for the top talent with a proven track record is small – with everyone looking to recruit at the same time, rates get pushed higher quite quickly,” he added.
Andrew McIntee is a Director and Head of the Financial Services Practice of Interim Partners.
Financial Services Practice Expands
November 3rd, 2009
Interim Partners has recently launched Brightpool, a recruitment business which focuses on placing contractors to deliver change and provide resource support to our interim managers.
I am delighted to welcome Helen Storey to the financial services practice who specialises in the Human Resources contract market in the North. Helen brings a wealth of experience gained from working in an international recruitment company focusing on the HR market for the past 6 years.
Helen said: “I am delighted to join Brightpool as it represents a fantastic concept and compliments a highly regarded and established business such as Interim Partners. When I heard about the opportunity I knew immediately it would be an obvious next step for my career as it will allow me to continue to build upon my existing network within the senior HR community.”
I would like to encourage all financial services HR professionals within the Interim Partners network to refer quality HR contractors to Brightpool so that Helen can build upon her already extensive network. Further details can be found at www.brightpool.co.uk
Andrew McIntee is a Director and Head of the Financial Services Practice at Interim Partners.
2009 Review
November 2nd, 2009
In my first blog entry at the beginning of the year I was optimistic and expected a marked increase in demand for interims within the energy and utilities sector. I was confident that programmes of change, the push for renewable energy and the prospects of new build nuclear would all generate a wealth of opportunities for interim managers. Well 2009 is nearly over and the finish line is in sight. Although there has been a steady flow of opportunities, the number of assignments has been disappointing and the decision making process frustratingly protracted. There have been some notable successes in 2009 for Interim Partners’ Energy and Utilities Practice however I expected a great deal more. Was my optimism for interim opportunities in the sector misplaced? No. I genuinely believe there is latent demand for interim managers to address the critical issues the sector faces. Interestingly, there has been a marked increase in interim assignments coming through in the final quarter and I am confident this is an indication of more to come in 2010.
So what happened with 2009? For the regulated businesses there is still a great deal of procrastination regarding the need for change. Ultimately, without pressure from Government and regulators there is little impetus for change. The regulated businesses are also facing unique challenges posed by the RPI – X model. For the first time since deregulation they are faced with a deflationary environment. This translates into reduced spending on programmes of change and, with many in the process of restructuring their businesses, existing programmes are being resourced with those internally displaced. The consultation period for smart metering comes to an end during November. This has taken longer than expected and has also frustrated demand.
With falling oil prices, more proactive National Oil Companies (NOCs) and limited credit its been a tough year in oil and gas also. BP and Shell have reduced there dependence on non-permanent resource as part of a broad based and aggressive restructure. For the oil juniors funding has prevented development and production. However, major programmes of change are needed if these businesses are to succeed.
I would welcome an opportunity to share your thoughts, insights and experiences on interim management in 2009 and expectations for 2010.
Duncan Hoggett is Head of the Utilities Practice at Interim Partners.
Best in class
October 15th, 2009
It is a common sentence that I hear …. “our business is different from any other” but the more I place professional Interim Managers into assignments the more I realise that “most businesses in a given sector are the same”. Of course, some companies are better than others at sales, delivery, cash flow management etc but, in essence, if let’s say the sales channel is B2B, service based and the sales cycle is long how different can the sales process be?
There are, however, differences at a functional head level, one senior manager will be very different from another and differences in skillsets contribute to poor key stakeholder or subordinate management, bad customer service, lack of drive and ambition etc throughout the whole function.
Surely what every organisation wants is the best functional heads who are capable of driving profit whilst the organisation as a whole deals with the changes in the economy. My question is where do we find these “best in class” functional heads? Will they be an executive that has been in the same industry man and boy? Or do we start and embrace executives from outside our industry that can bring a specific skillset such as “lean”?
I am interested to hear your thoughts and I would especially like to hear from Interim Managers who work in and out of support services and have delivered a “best in class” assignment within a support services organisation.
Mark Kitchen is Head of the Construction & Support Services Practice of Interim Partners.
Network for sale …..
October 7th, 2009
With the current review of price controls for energy networks and the continued shortage of funding who will win the bid for EDF’s network? Could this see a return to increased M&A activity within the utilities sector?
Duncan Hoggett is Head of the Utilities Practice at Interim Partners.
Labour’s Lost It
September 30th, 2009
The media are all over The Sun newspaper’s headline today, ‘Labour’s Lost it’.
The Sun, the biggest selling daily newspaper in the UK has made a major political switch away from Labour to back the Conservative party. It has done this the day after Gordon Browns call to arms speech at the Labour party conference in Brighton.
The Sun may paint the picture today of being a force when it comes to influencing people’s decisions at the next election, but realistically it tends to follow the views of its readers rather then set them. Understandably it would always want to be seen to back a winner. So, all it is really telling us today is what we all know already. The Tories are favourites to win the next election.
I get the impression that lots of people even within the labour party ranks think that this political switch is the end for Labour. I am interested to hear people’s thoughts on who they feel has more power and ability to influence us today. Is it the media or our elected politicians?
Also, if the Tories do get into power at the next election, what do you think they will do with the NHS?
Paul Fleming is Head of the Healthcare Practice at Interim Partners.
Projects for Christmas
September 30th, 2009
It’s been an interesting year to say the least and one I’m sure a fair few of us will enjoy saying goodbye to. Its not all been bad news as some areas have held up well, but what I really want to know is will we have projects in time for Christmas. The noise and general discussions within the FMCG market would suggest that we will. The last six months have created frustration for the talented Project and Programme managers out there who has seen work streams identified but haven’t made it past the Finance Directors cutting table.
The projects that we have been scoping have largely revolved around efficiency, some integration work and even a return of commercial work coming back on the agenda. So what do the timescales look like? Well from my perspectives we will see projects starting this side of Christmas but with the lion share coming in the new year. There has been a significant of clients getting burned this year by recruiting a low cost option to run a project to keep costs down, its these same clients that are now asking me the question “are these individuals committed interims with a track record”, yes they are.
I’d be interested to hear when you think different areas of the interim market will see a lift and your rational as to why. We have an interesting time ahead of us, let’s enjoy it.
Simon Gough is Head of the FMCG Practice at Interim Partners.
A blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas
September 30th, 2009
A third of consumers intend to spend less on Christmas than they did last year. Retailers will now need to be at the top of their game to reap the rewards during the traditional golden sales period. Recent research by ICM shows that consumers are reluctant to spend frivolously which is more bad news for the sector with last Christmas being the worst recorded on record with like-for-like sales down 3.3%. The third of consumers looking to spend less is roughly the percentage of the UK population that have been directly affected by the recession, either by having lost their jobs or having their hours cut.
Online retail continues its upward movement unabated. The UK online market increased to £17.5 billion in 2008 compared to just £3.9 billion in 2002. Online retail is now growing at a rate eight times that of the overall retail market. In the ICM Poll the results for retailers with on-line capability is encouraging with 13% of people polled saying they will buy a lot more on-line, 19% a bit more and 43% buying about the same as last year.
So what does this mean for interim managers in the retail sector? With businesses focussed on trading and cash management, projects still shelved and the turnaround market still not prevalent in the sector it looks like a difficult time for Interims focussed on retail and it could well continue into 2010.
I would welcome your thoughts on the above and look forward to keeping in touch with you all in the run up to Christmas.
Jonathan Flynn is Head of the Retail Practice at Interim Partners.
Underlying Symptoms!
September 30th, 2009
The general consensus among interim managers in pharma and related sectors in one of subtle positivity.
It is also apparent that the issues facing many pharma companies and especially biotech businesses started long before the recession made its effects widespread. The thawing of budgets, the recommencing of change projects, integration programmes and investment in ERP systems are coming back on line but the major issues facing the sector as a whole are still apparent.
Patient expiries, a lack of products in late stage development pipelines, pricing pressures and tougher regulatory conditions as well as lack of funding for biotechnology means it is going to take a lot more than the reissue of credit and stock market confidence before the sector is truly back on track.
Further cost reduction strategies and outsourcing of non core operations seems to be the obvious way forward with a number of high profile pharma businesses opting for this approach. Will there be more survival mergers or divested operations merging with other divested operations to form new support organisations.
As budgets are finalised for many companies over the early Autumn period it will be interesting to see what is deemed to be a ‘nice to have’ and what is seen to be essential for survival and what is required to regain competitive edge. As organisations strive to be as lean as possible which bracket will interim management fall into when it comes to budget sign off?
If you offered me the current market six months ago I would be very pleased but as with all things I’m sure there is still a rocky road ahead before a truly positive market takes shape.
James Fargus is a Senior Consultant in the Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences Practice of Interim Partners.
Have we returned to growth?
September 29th, 2009
It’s interesting talking to the interim community as it enables me to constantly monitor and gauge market activity and trends. In summary, the message I’m currently getting is that the market is patchy and mixed.
Yes, we have seen a substantial increase in activity since June that has translated into a new record in terms of quarterly performance figures for Interim Partners, and yes, the pundits are forecasting that the UK economy will return to positive growth by the year end.
However, we’re not seeing the expected September bounce that many hoped for, and I still feel that a ‘recovery’ is not on the cards for quite some time.
My guess is that this will be Q3 next year at the earliest, particularly for the following reasons:
The latest figures from both the US and UK that underlines the fragility of the housing market, which in turn closely corresponds to consumer confidence. Activity has fallen both here and across the Atlantic this month.
Unemployment is still rising and consumers are saving money rather than spending it – albeit still at historically low levels, but mortgage and loan repayment rates are increasing.
If we also combine this with our economy typically lagging the US by a good 6 months, and a desperate Prime Minster overruling his Chancellor to say that we have already returned to growth, it leads me to think that although the Green Shoots are not exactly wilting, they’re not growing particularly strongly just yet!
Tom Legard is a Senior Consultant in the Manufacturing Practice of Interim Partners
