Compensation Expectations Flat Despite Record Markets and Growth in AUM

We are expecting moderating incentive compensation across the board, and an aggressive hunt for new sources of profitability to continue in the industry. Rising incentive compensation will continue in segments of the alternatives business, and RIAs in the wealth business, for example, which will reap the benefit of strong flows and profitability. However, most of the industry managing public securities in traditional asset classes continues to be under pressure from flat to falling profitability, despite rising AUM due to both market valuations and modest positive flows. What is really missing, particularly in most of non-index 40 Act business, is any organic client growth.

Our leadership search partnerships continue to grow with strong new hiring in select areas. The backdrop of a solid economy, record markets and normalization of global macro volatility has built the confidence C suite executives in our pure play asset management clients. More esoteric, volatile, and opaque markets and asset classes continue to be the beneficiaries of profitable organic growth, whether in public markets (like emerging market local currency credit) or private markets (like sustainable real assets or private credit). This strong recruiting activity in pockets and at the top of the house, has led many firms to trim staff at lower levels in widely reported layoffs, in what we regard as a rotational shift of talent.

Technology skills upgrades continue to be a driver of every search regardless of function, now focused on large language models in their many permutations and applications. We identified this trend in 2019 with a widely reported blog, and we are in the midst of earning the CFA Institutes Data Science for Investment Professionals accreditation to match this demand for expertise

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Accountability in Sustainability Initiatives

Professional investment allocators are demanding more rigorous application of the full range sustainable investment techniques, including the inclusion of non-financial material factors such as environmental, social and governance practices. Responding to this demand, Wilbanks Partners has begun the process of establishing its IFRS guided accreditation in partnership with EcoVadis. Most of our clients are also in the process of more clearly reporting stage 1 and 2 environmental impacts, and almost all have adopted rigorous DEI and governance best practice initiatives. Many of these firms now confidentially share with us important improving performance metrics as a result of over a decade of effort.

Wilbanks Partners Active with Industry Clients and Partners in Public Forums

Over the last year we have been very active working and visiting with clients in a wide range of public forums, always on the lookout for the best talent, and staying abreast of industry best practices.

Increasing Importance of Good Governance

At every level of the organization good governance best practice initiatives are evident with all of our recruiting partnership clients. Whether related to fields such as risk management, investment policy, digital marketing or at the Board level, the dialogue with our clients on best practices is constant and involves specific skills sought on every recruitment. The downside of failures on this front are quick and dramatic in brand degradation and AUM loss, and regularly dominate the media coverage of our business.

Wilbanks Partners has joined the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and is participating in the beta testing of the new accreditation standards for individual directors. Through our extensive work in Board recruiting for corporate, fund trustee and not-for-profit entities, we have developed a long track record and deep knowledge base of the organizational structures and best practices that make good governance impactful to an organization’s bottom line

Active Fields of Recruiting

There are pockets of active recruiting in virtually every sector of our pure-play asset management clients.

  • C-Suite Leadership. Growth has been strongest with founder/owner led alternative firms in private market asset classes as they continue to upgrade their leadership teams. Recent searches have included Board positions, CFOs, CTOs, CHROs, General Counsels, Heads of Distribution and CMOs.
  • Portfolio Management. Though private credit has dominated the news media, deepening the bench of investment skills in a broader range of asset classes is a more common theme in our recruiting partnerships. We continue to work with clients on building out the skills and leadership for integrating material non-financial data into investment policy, with specific reference to integrating more sophisticated quantitative techniques into traditional bottom-up research.
  • Distribution. Recruiting partnerships in distribution have been dominated for several years by newly created positions for CMOs at alternatives firms, and quant driven digital marketing roles supporting cutting edge sales enablement programs on the traditional front. Greater channelization of target clients, particularly in the UHNW and family office sectors, has led to several searches. In the wealth management field, the RIAs are pursuing more sophisticated tax-efficient solutions based on client interactions, leading to sales and product leadership searches in this area.
  • Technology & Operations. Upgrading the skills of the organization to match the rapidly developing capabilities of large language models is a major effort with every client we work with. Though many small and mid-size asset managers (<$100 bil AUM) are still migrating their infrastructure to the cloud and building more robust partnerships with SaaS and outsourcing partners, a new level of complexity has been layered on the industry with the advent of the superior speed and adaptability of a wide variety of tools and techniques based on large language models. Just as the use of chatbots became a well-known predictor of corporate growth and profitability in the venture world a decade ago, the use of agents and algorithms using large language models will become a predictor of profitability and success in the asset and wealth management business in the next 2-3 years.
View our recruiting track record

Wilbanks Partners’ Representative Search Work

  • President & CEO – $40 bil RIA
  • President & CEO – $30 bil ESG Investment Firm
  • President & COO – $5 bil RIA
  • President & CEO – Leading Financial Services Association
  • President & CEO – $4 bil Family Office
  • Board Member – $3 bil ESG Private Equity Firm
  • Board Member – $110 bil Global Asset Manager
  • Board Member – $10 bil Mutual Fund Complex
  • Board Member – $160 bil Global Investment Manager
  • Senior Managing Director & Division Head Tax Efficient Solutions Business – $45 bil AUM Diversified Asset Manager
  • Division Executive & Head of $2 bil Investment Business – Mission-Driven Payment Services Fintech
  • Managing Director & ETF Division Manager – $80 bil Asset Manager
  • SVP & Head of ETFs – $1 trillion Global Asset Manager
  • Partner & Head of Retail Distribution – $200 bil Private Equity Firm
  • Head of Retail Marketing – $200 bil Private Equity Firm
  • Head of Retail Sales – $200 bil Private Equity Firm
  • Partner & CFO – $30 bil Hedge Fund
  • Partner & CFO – $4 bil ESG Private Equity Firm
  • Treasurer – $3 bil ESG Private Equity Firm
  • Chief Investment Officer – $3 bil Endowment
  • Partner & CHRO – $40 bil Global Asset Manager
  • Partner & CHRO – Boutique Global Investment Bank
  • Partner & CHRO – $4 bil ESG Private Equity Firm
  • Partner & COO, Trust Services Business – Large Regional New Hampshire Law Firm
  • Managing Director & Head of Client Service & Operations – $40 bil RIA
  • Partner & COO – $4 bil RIA
  • EVP & Chief Marketing Officer Retail – $1 trillion Global Asset Manager
  • SVP & Head of Digital Marketing – $1 trillion Global Asset Manager
  • Head of US Retail Channel Marketing – $700 bil Global Asset Management Firm
  • Partner & Chief Marketing Officer – $10 bil Global Institutional Asset Manager
  • Head of Family Office Sales Channel – $7 bil Hedge Fund
  • Portfolio Manager, Emerging Market Local Currency Credit – $50 bil Asset Manager
  • Portfolio Manager, Global Small Cap Value Equities – $60 bil Asset Manager
  • Head of Investments – $4 bil Family Office
  • Head of Family Office Distribution Channel – $6 bil AUM Hedge Fund
  • General Counsel – $1 bil Wealth Management Private Equity Fund
  • Head of Risk Management – $30 bil Hedge Fund
  • Head of Human Resources – $30 bil Hedge Fund
  • Head of Channel Marketing – $80 bil ETF Specialty Firm
  • Head of Talent & Deputy CHRO – $80 bil Asset Manager
  • Product Manager, ETF & Blockchain Asset Classes – $80 bil Asset Manager
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