eFinancialCareers

Hedge funds are having to work harder than previously at extracting accountants from investment banks.

In the past, funds were able to lure staff from banks (which usually offer higher benefits and job security) with promises of hands-on strategy experience and the ear of traders and decision makers. Not any more.

“This is increasingly a rarity – the more successful hedge funds are putting much more structure in place…Going to work as a fund accountant in a hedge fund doesn’t get you any closer to the products,” Chris Sevenoaks, principal consultant at Finance Professionals tells us.

Hedge funds may still offer a 50-20% premium over basic accounting salaries of around £55k to £60k, say recruiters, but “ancillary benefits such as pensions, health and insurance are frequently not comparable or indeed not on offer at all,” says Edward Ekins from McGregor Boyall Associates Ltd.

And while investment banks have the financial upper hand, they are also making their prime brokerage offering much more attractive as a middle ground between hedge funds and investment banks, which means having the security of working with an investment bank and also the intellectual challenge of working on behalf of the fund but without the risk.

If hedge funds cannot find suitable accountants, what next? The trend to outsource will “absolutely continue,” said Sevenoaks.

However, funds are still keen to keep specific areas in-house. Credit, for instance, is a key area at the moment, said Sevenoaks, adding that accountants with experience of credit and specifically credit and equity derivatives are worth their weight in gold.