Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Downturn helps MFs cherry-pick talent at realistic pay

Mutual fund houses are making the most of the current financial market turmoil. Sensing an opportunity and keeping long-term expansion plans in mind, some mutual funds are recruiting across functions. The hiring comes as salaries are slowly retracting to more realistic levels, thus allowing funds to pick and choose quality candidates. 

Sahara Mutual Fund, Taurus and Bharti AXA Mutual Fund are some of the fund houses looking to add more personnel in the next six months, keeping their expansion plans in mind. Bharti AXA plans to beef up its current branch network of 45 by 10. 

“Very soon, we will be recruiting for our fund management team starting with a senior position. With the pace of our geographical expansion and introduction of newer product features, we will be recruiting people in our sales team as well,” said Bharti AXA Investment Managers chief executive Sandeep Dasgupta. 

Sahara Mutual Fund, which has 70 employees on its rolls, is planning to double its manpower in the next few months as it is looking to increase its network from 16 to 32 around the same time. The fund house will be recruiting across functions — research, sales, marketing and fund management teams. 

”Our recruitment process is not driven by the market meltdown. We will continue to recruit talent to strengthen our human resources to meet geographical expansion plans,” said Sahara Mutual Fund CEO NK Garg.
Taurus Mutual Fund is also in the process of adding to its existing headcount. The fund house plans to increase the number from 120 to 150 people by end of March 2009, said its CEO Waqar Naqvi. 

“In the coming fortnight, we will be recruiting some analysts on an immediate basis. Enhancing our pan-India presence, we are getting investments through SIPs (systematic investment plans). We will also recruit people in different functions with a special focus on our fund management team,” Mr Naqvi said. 

The recruitment drive comes at a time when several other segments are facing job cuts and allows fund houses to cherry-pick candidates at lower salaries. 

Mr Naqvi said Taurus is now getting job applications from overseas as well. “We are not averse to even picking up talent from global entities and are definitely on the look out,” he said. While salary is not a constraint for the right candidate, fund houses say the downturn has definitely made things easier for them. “Salary demand has substantially come down from candidates due to dull market conditions,” said Mr Garg. 

Even finance companies like Antique Finance are recruiting people across levels to expand their teams. Recently, Antique recruited five senior professionals, including Premal Doshi, who held senior positions with Motilal Oswal, Anand Rathi, Lazard India and Jardine Fleming. 

It also roped in Krish Shanbhag, who has worked with Clareville Capital India Investment Advisors, HSBC Asset Management and ING Investment Management in senior positions.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Personal_Finance/Downturn_helps_MFs_cherry-pick_talent/articleshow/3625263.cms