Author: Melissa Norris

By Melissa Norris and Megan Staczek   The coronavirus pandemic has shown the investment management industry that its people can successfully work from home (WFH), regardless of function. But everyone is wondering what’s next. People are asking questions such as: Will this change be permanent? Will firms be more open to people working remotely – either permanently or partially? What are the impacts of a workforce that is in some form working from home?   While there are many benefits and challenges to telework (see the addendum to this article below), we’re taking an even broader view of the current situation with the following

While both non-compete and non-solicitation clauses are fixtures in the asset management industry, we’ve noticed some new trends regarding these contractual agreements. In general, it seems to be getting harder for firms to enforce them. It’s also interesting to note that many firms don’t take action to hold former staff to agreements regarding the solicitation of their current employees. (See this article that explores this topic.)   Non-Compete Clauses   The application of non-compete (NC) clauses, also known as “non-competes” (NCs), varies widely across the industry although they’re more consistently found within the hedge fund community. NCs are not necessarily utilized more

The asset management industry of today is complex and moving from a growth industry to one that is flat. This shift is due to a variety of challenges facing the industry as a whole. These headwinds include the move to passive investing, compression on fees, rising regulatory costs, the war for talent, macroeconomic factors, and the impact of technology, amongst others. Several of my industry contacts have likened these systemic changes to what has happened to the sell-side since the Global Financial Crisis.   In this market, firms need to reconsider their approach to senior leadership positions. Historically, firms have tended to follow

A recent Harvard Business School article[1] suggests significant contrasts between the management styles of U.S. corporations situated on either the East or West Coasts. This discussion has prompted the following question:   Are there differences in the ways East and West Coast financial services firms are run?   Since financial services in general is a well-established industry without a large start-up culture, we at Jamesbeck have observed that prevailing management styles are substantially similar on both the East and West Coasts. Whether or not a firm and its leadership are entrepreneurial, forward-looking, or visionary is a function of the organization, and unrelated to the coast on which

Diversity and inclusion are hot topics in financial services right now. The addition of diverse talent has been shown to positively correlate to higher returns and a more positive work environment, as well as more accurately reflect a broad investor population. The trend to establish more diversity and inclusion within firms’ ranks has resulted in intense competition for the best candidates: women and minorities.    The prevailing industry dialogue is focused on how firms can attract the best candidates, and support them once they’ve joined their team. Yet not much is being said about how the strongest diverse talent can be proactive within the

At Jamesbeck, we’ve noted a number of trends in financial services this year in the area of recruiting, including the salient issue of diversity.   Recruiting: It's all about Disruption, Alternatives, FinTech, & Quant   The top areas for recruiting in 2019 are as follows:   Senior leadership with an eye towards dynamic, disruptive leaders willing to make systemic changes in organizations, and in the manner businesses are structured and managed; Multi-asset solutions; Alternatives strategies, particularly in the private markets and real assets; Technology, data and Fintech; Quant investing; and Analytical and system-minded people who can span across functions.   In other recruiting trends, we’ve observed that non-solicit and non-compete clauses

I was recently approached by one of my clients with questions regarding current staffing and compensation trends in the investment management industry. What follows are some insights into recent activity we at Jamesbeck have observed in these areas.   Staffing: Back office and operations jobs are outsourced and senior staff replaced by cheaper, junior employees   Firms are both growing staff in value-added areas such as multi-asset, data sciences, and private market strategies and reducing headcount in ‘commoditized’ functions. As firms seek to cut costs, back-office, operations and middle-office jobs are being hit hard. These positions, as well as manual tasks, are either being outsourced