Scottish fund managers are hiring again

It would be churlish to suggest a 2007-style fund management poaching frenzy was back on the cards in Scotland, but there has been definite movement of late. Some firms are looking to build their investment teams, which means others (by necessity) are recruiting once again.

Having signalled its intention to hire earlier this year, Dundee-based Alliance Trust last month recruited Rob Davidson, formerly head of fixed income at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) and three of his team.

Headhunters say SWIP is currently looking for replacements, but it's also been the beneficiary of increased assets under management as a result of the movement of funds from Insight Investment Management following its sale by parent company Lloyds.

Funds have swelled to 125bn and chief executive Dean Buckley says it is expecting to "increase professional resources in Edinburgh" to deal with the new business

Richard Fletcher, director of Edinburgh headhunters Fletcher Jones, believes there's been a shift in sentiment within the Scottish industry.

"There was a certain amount of downsizing last year, and some recent reshuffling, but now a lot of firms are beginning to recruit again," he says. "As well as the major fund houses, some boutiques are looking to hire, not in great numbers, but they want quality people."

SVM Asset Management, for example, has added two new investment staff recently and increased employee expenses from 2.9m in 2007 to 3.5m last year.

Edinburgh Partners' chief executive Sandy Nairn has also signalled his willingness to hire following a bumper 12 months during which profits rose 44% to 8.65m.

Martin Currie hired Alan Porter for its global equities division in July, and has also been recruiting abroad - for its new Singapore operation and for hedge fund sales roles in the US.

"It's been a busy year so far in terms of senior end recruitment within the Scottish asset management sector," says Joanna Black, partner at headhunters Black Appointments.

But Richard Barry, head of HR at Baillie Gifford is keen to play down any perceived upturn.

"Firms are definitely open to the idea of hiring, and there has been movement," he says. "However, I wouldn't say the market was buoyant again. Turnover is extremely low within our organization at the moment, for example, and new hires are negligible compared to previous years. The majority of recruitment we have planned is at a graduate level."