Senior financial planners, paraplanners and relationship managers are in high demand as the new year begins – but employers are maintaining high standards in the selection process.
That's according to the latest quarterly recruitment report from Hays Banking, which found that despite the shortfall in certain candidates, employers are willing to hold back on their hiring intentions in favour of professionals with a proven and stable background.
For the period January to March, the report found that some of highest employer demand stems from the need for senior paraplanners, particularly as entry-level paraplanners tend to "quickly shift into advice roles as a natural progression within the industry".
The need for paraplanners to work closely with financial planners to formulate strategy within independent firms has pushed the salary rate above standard levels, but the increase in full-time salary has made it difficult to secure paraplanners for short-term project work, Hays stated.
At the same time, financial planners with institutional experience are in short supply as they tend to be drawn to independent firms, which they see as providing more direct support and less performance targets than larger firms.
"Whilst these skills are in hot demand, employers remain cautious about hiring candidates that appear to have moved around too often and they are being very specific with their requirements, being more demanding about core and soft skills," Hays Banking director Jane McNeill said.
"In terms of long-term solutions, some employers are interested in candidates that can take a step up to fill a role rather than have someone more senior take a step back."
According to the report, the need to better serve clients has seen demand grow for client services specialists, while the general industry push into regional areas has resulted in a shortage in the number of phone-based advisers.
Demand has also increased for relationship managers in niche areas such as trade and supply finance, while a pickup in the mortgage and loan market has driven up the need for lending managers, pre-settlement officers and various mortgage broking roles.
