eFinancialCareers

2008 will be a good year for accountants going into…

Commodities

Steve Leeson, director, Morgan McKinley, predicts commodities will stay hot for the next 12 months: ‘Commodities, across the front, middle and back office, will be a key hiring area, due to increased investment, consolidation and market activity. A raised appetite for talent will be felt across commodities houses, oil majors and investment banks.’

Retail banking

Emma Halls, director, Finance Professionals, says retail banks will take up the slack from investment banks hit by the credit crisis: ‘We expect to see expansion in group accounting; there’s plenty consolidation going on. Retail banks are making themselves more attractive employers – and while many investment banks have hiring freezes, it’s a great time for retailers to recruit the best talent, especially ACAs who might otherwise go into front office roles.’

Investment management

James Aldridge, consultant, Hays Senior Finance, says fund managers will be hiring: ‘The sector will experience a steady increase in both temporary and permanent recruitment – and we expect to see continued salary increases throughout 2008.’

And 2008 will be a bad year for accountants associated with…

Securitisation

Caroline Hudson, director, Martin Ward Anderson: ‘We’ll definitely see fewer jobs, as a result of the sub-prime crisis. Accountants with experience of structured debt were massively in demand over the last 18 months – but I can’t see that growing; if anything, recruitment will be scaled back.’

CIMA & ACCA

Simon Humphreys, team leader, Joslin Rowe, says non-ACA qualified accountants are liable to fall out of favour: ‘Demand for CIMAs and ACCAs remained exceptionally strong last year – but depending on how the market moves, employers’ flexibility could be reduced. If it reverts to an employer-driven scenario, recruiting criteria could get more stringent – heralding a return to the belief that ACA is king, with other qualifications squeezed out.

Internal audit

Neil Owen, regional director, Robert Half, says: ‘Many internal audit functions have expanded greatly over the last two years but the banks now all have sizeable teams in place. While those teams will be busy, there will be far fewer brand new vacancies created.’

Credit derivatives

Steve Leeson, associate director, Morgan McKinley, says: ‘There is expected to be a slowing of demand for credit derivatives accountants during 2008, due to the exponential growth this area has experienced over the last couple of years."

The eFinancialCareers editorial team is taking a protracted Christmas break. We will be back in full force on January 8th. Happy New Year!