Leverton Search were delighted to welcome leaders from some of the industry’s top asset managers for our latest Industry Leaders Roundtable in November, bringing together Heads of Investment Specialists for a candid and energising discussion. With year-end rapidly approaching, the group compared how the Q4 cycle is unfolding, noting that liquidity tends to tighten by mid-December and that some inflows are already being pushed into early next year. This shift is shaping how teams plan their client activity and think about maintaining momentum going into 2025.
A big part of the conversation centred on how firms motivate and measure their specialist teams. It seems that there is no single model that works for everyone, mainly as teams and structures differ so much from firm to firm, but most agreed that combining qualitative and quantitative judgement is the way to go. The group also shared how they navigate compensation differences between asset classes, (or public and private markets) highlighting open communication, a strong team narrative and motivation to make the biggest difference.
As client expectations continue to evolve, teams are rethinking how they build and share knowledge. Cross-training, pairing specialists with secondary product areas, and keeping junior team members generalist for longer all emerged as practical ways to support learning and broaden capability. This linked naturally to one of the strongest synergies we found across each firm: the importance of close coordination between sales and investment specialists to deliver the most impactful client interactions.
Finally, we touched upon recruitment and the talent landscape to end the conversation. Hiring multilingual specialists is becoming tougher as more roles concentrate in London and many leaders around the table expect the investment specialist role to continue evolving again. Leaner teams are driving demands for individuals with more analytical depth, technical skill and stronger client facing capabilities, which all seem to be rising in importance.