The financial news flow tends to slow down as we enter December. Christmas parties take centre stage and we look forward to spending more time with friends and family.
Of course, with Covid-19 and its various guises still lurking around and various ‘Plan Bs’ put in place,, things were always going to be a little different this year.
The difference is not limited to few less invitations floating around our inboxes. Rather, the news is still coming in thick and fast, predominantly concerning people moving jobs.
In the past week alone, we have seen senior hires at Rathbones, Hampden & Co, Weatherbys Private Bank, among others. Even regulators are not immune to this trend. The FCA announced a shakeup of its senior team this week.
People moving jobs is nothing new, but the number of people with itchy feet does seem to be new.
Research by recruitment firm Randstad UK in November found 24 percent of workers were planning to move jobs within the next three to six months. In comparison, the firm normally expects up to 11 percent of workers to move jobs each year.
With the so-called great resignation afoot, wealth managers will be facing headaches about how they can retain their top talent.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to individuals reflecting on their lives and what is important to them. Increasingly, employees are looking for their jobs to reflect this.
Whether it is being able to pick children up from school, walking the dog in daylight, or simply having an extra 30 minutes in bed, a lot of people enjoyed certain aspects of working from home.
As we enter another period of government-advised working from home, the return to the office debate will be put on hold for the time being. Whichever side of the conversation you fall, it is a polarising topic.
We are hearing stories of people accepting job offers because their new employer has offered them full flexibility. Equally, we are hearing of people moving to a firm which places more importance on being in the office.
The flexible working debate is far from settled and is likely to continue dominating conversations for the foreseeable future.
It is not just employees getting itchy feet. Some firms are looking for greener pastures too.
Consolidation within the wealth management sector has been a well reported trend. This high level of activity looks set to continue well into 2022.
abrdn’s £1.49 billion purchase of interactive investor dominated the wealth sector’s M&A headlines this week. The deal is part of a strategy of simplification and modernisation for the Scottish asset manager, which has seen its share price plummet following the 2017 merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management.
Like most M&A deals in the sector, it is being heralded with great optimism by the acquirers and acquired alike.
However, I will leave you with a warning from thewealthnet’s editor-at-large Ian Orton: “The reality is that merger and acquisition deals usually tend to be value destroying.”
Perhaps the grass is not always greener after all.
