With recruitment of juniors at banks and buy-side firm at record highs this year, all talent is at a premium, but headhunters on both sides of the Atlantic say talent that ticks diversity boxes is at even more of a premium than most.
“There’s huge demand for women on the buy-side,” says Anthony Keizner, partner at Odyssey Search Partners in New York. “And even more than women, there’s big demand for those of a racial diversity background. Investors are happy with private equity returns, but they want funds to make improvements to their diversity and inclusion statistics.”
As funds focus on diversifying their ranks, pay for hard to find hires is increasing. In the U.S.,Keizner said PE funds have responded to increased compensation at investment banks by hiking their offers. “In order to attract an analyst from an investment bank, it used to be the case that buy-side firms offering $180k were seen to be providing a good premium. Now the most common buy-side offer is $200k, at least.”
