After a nearly 20 year career in FX trading, I found myself for the first time actively searching for a new role. Having completed an outplacement program with Morgan & Banks I was referred to their financial services recruitment team. Being in Melbourne there were very few trading roles - in fact none - so I was exploring my options when they asked “Would you consider recruitment?”
Thus began my entrée into the recruitment world and after 18 months I joined the JMES family and here I am 20 years later. Whilst I’m in the outpost of Melbourne, I can truly call JMES my second family. There’s been lots of banter, laughs, great memories and long-lasting friendships created in this time and a home that has provided great support throughout life’s up and downs.
The landscape has changed dramatically from when I started in recruitment. Upon joining JMES in 2003 there was a strong business focus on investment banking, (M&A Advisory & sell-side research) private equity, corporate & institutional banking and funds management (core asset classes of equities, fixed income, infrastructure & property). As the market changed with rising pools of capital in the superannuation sector (thanks to the increasing guaranteed super contributions) so did the investment horizon. The asset consulting world was growing as investors looked for outperforming fund managers and new strategies to invest in. This saw a broad rise across investment strategies (such as absolute return funds) and the rise of the boutique managers across all asset classes and retail distribution came to the fore.
Until, that is, one too many strategies called subprime hit and the GFC hit - and hit hard. The world froze, recruitment froze, and it seemed like an eternity. Markets stabilised (thanks to extreme government intervention) and new market opportunities were created. Funds were still flowing into the super industry and as markets recovered, the industry funds suddenly found themselves managing money in the tens of billions, hundreds of billions individually and in the trillions collectively! This saw the introduction of direct investment teams across all asset classes. At a similar time, infrastructure investing started booming, proving particularly attractive in a low interest rate environment, whilst government spending in the sector boomed. This trend in infrastructure investing in the clean energy space driven by the climate change thematic is still well and truly alive. Large pools of capital in the superannuation world continue to dominate and will seek a home to invest.
So what has stayed the same? The war for talent! What has changed? The thematics are forever changing, so whatever is popular today may be forgotten tomorrow. Identifying the next big theme, trend and opportunity is the current challenge.
Fortunately, I am old and ugly enough to have seen many cycles and crashes from the 1980’s to the GFC and throughout Covid so resilience and patience to look for the opportunities once the dust has settled has fortunately been part of my mindset. To my mind, the GFC was potentially catastrophic and the biggest challenge the world had confronted. Jon Michel and Patrick Everest played an important role in calming the troops and remained steadfast in extremely uncertain times. To a certain extent, Covid had a similar financial kneejerk reaction in the markets, however it steadied relatively quickly and recruiting quickly resumed after the hiatus period. There is no doubt Covid had a greater personal impact than the GFC due to the extended lockdowns in Victoria and proved a challenging environment for all. This has seen the rise and more embedded culture of VC meetings and whilst I still have a preference to meet in person, I believe there have been some efficiency and productivity gains that have come about from this. Clients have also become more flexible with potential candidates being located interstate than they were before.
Overall, I would say the biggest change from 2003 is the medium to connect with potential candidates. Back then, our main emphasis was on selling an AFR or The Age newspaper advertisement, in the hope that people would sift through the paper over weekend coffee and notice the ad or be the first one queueing up to buy the AFR searching for that new job! Now, it’s LinkedIn adverts, messages and contacts and scrolling through online ads on your phone while on public transport.
About nine years ago, one of my favourite clients once said to me “Michael, unfortunately I think recruiters will be out of a job in a few years with online recruitment and AI taking over!” Thank goodness that hasn’t happened yet and the traditional art of search and networking is still well and truly alive, supported by a slightly different toolkit.
It’s hard to pinpoint any one particular highlight, but 20 years at JMES is pretty special!
I still get a buzz out of the enjoyment and excitement when a successful candidate is offered the role.
Contact Michael in our Melbourne office at mlee@jmes.com.au