Danos Consulting Market Trends 2024
OVERVIEW OF THE LAST 12-MONTHS
2023 was a challenging year for hiring across most Financial Services functions, and the Interim and Consulting market was not immune to these issues. The year started with steady demand for Interims across most governance functions and Financial Services sectors; however, as the year progressed, we certainly saw institutions reduce hiring across noncritical projects. Typically, Consulting can be in high demand as the economy faces uncertainty. However, it was not until the back end of the year that we started to see companies being more strategic with their recruitment budgets and starting to replace permanent layoffs with the use of Interims as companies navigated through balancing economic challenges with their ongoing compliance, risk, and legal responsibilities.
As usual, the larger Investment Banks seemed to be the most affected by the challenging landscape, with fewer and less frequent large-scale remediation projects compared to previous periods. The demand for resources shifted towards assisting firms in managing larger backlogs in File Review and Investigations. Additionally, further hiring became necessary as businesses continued to navigate the changes in Consumer Duty regulations implemented by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Towards the end of the year, the need for SMCR (Senior Managers and Certification Regime), Monitoring and Testing, and DORA-experienced (Digital Operational Resilience Act) consultants increased ahead of plans for Q1 and Q2 in 2024.
There was a steady demand, as ever, for Generalists on both the buy-side and sell-side, as they were required to support teams that had experienced staff departures, either voluntarily or due to organisational changes that needed to be implemented. Companies looked to using flexible resources to fill gaps resulting from these organisational changes, spanning from junior to more senior positions.
The senior market was slower for the first half of 2023, including positions such as ‘Head of’ and C-Suite roles, as individuals in these roles appeared inclined to maintain their current positions. As we entered the second half of the year, we started to see some movement at this level, especially at some of the bigger Banking Groups. This had a large knock-on effect on the market with further organisational structure changes, which will hopefully lead to a more fruitful hiring period in the first half of 2024.
Towards the end of 2023, we assisted on a number of Senior mandates for ‘Head of’ and ‘MLRO’ (Money Laundering Reporting Officers) positions within the Private Equity, Private Banking, and M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) sectors. A number of firms were looking to make changes to the people in these seats to help with the challenging landscape but also to anticipate a busier and highly demanding 2024.
“IT IS A GREAT TIME TO HIRE IF YOU ARE A CLIENT, WITH A GREAT POOL OF CANDIDATES TO LOOK AT ON COMPETITIVE RATES, WHO HAVE JUST FINISHED THEIR LATEST ASSIGNMENTS”
In summary, the 2023 market remained steady for Interim and Consulting hires. With the economy being influenced by the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and the Israel and Gaza war, along with the continued effects of rising living costs and the uncertainty this creates, flexible resources remained in demand. Interims continued to offer a more flexible resource for short-term gaps and skills shortages within teams. For clients, it was a favourable time to hire, as there was a diverse pool of candidates available, many of whom were actively seeking their next project at competitive rates.
“FINANCIAL PROMOTIONS WITHIN THE FINTECH SPACE IS DEFINITELY AN AREA TO WATCH”
LOOKING FORWARD…
Financial Services hubs continue to hire specialist resources in Europe, with an increase in Interim hiring in the cities of Paris, Frankfurt, and Luxembourg.
The FinTech sector will continue to see many firms applying for authorisation in the UK. There have been many fluctuations within the Digital Assets market in the last 12-months, and there will be further regulatory changes from the FCA and MiCA (Markets in Crypto- Assets Regulation) across Europe being implemented. The recent SEC (U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission) announcement regarding Bitcoins and ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) could further drive demand volume within this asset class, which means that Banks, Asset Managers, and Exchanges will need to invest in the infrastructure, operational, and regulatory support. Financial Promotions within the FinTech space will continue to be an area to watch.
The DORA regulation, which aims to help improve the cybersecurity and digital resilience of the European Union’s financial sector, will come into effect on January 17, 2025. Firms have started to implement changes in this space, including the hiring of external specialised consultants to help support them.
If you would like to discuss your hiring needs, or a recent track record of our work conducted, please contact Jamie or Bradley:
Jamie Anderson
Principal of Danos Consulting
T: +44 (0) 20 7610 6442 E: janderson@danosconsulting.com
Bradley Handelaar
Associate Director, Head of Interim Compliance
T: +44 (0) 20 7010 1154 E: bhandelaar@danosconsulting.com
