Happy June Everyone!

This is a month filled with celebrations. First, I want to wish Happy Father’s Day to all the dads. Next, to those of you with children graduating from pre-k, elementary, middle and high school, I hope you enjoy these milestones and I send them best wishes for success as they move on to their next chapters. Lastly, for those of you with kids graduating from college, I send heartfelt congratulations in honor of no longer having to make tuition payments (which is one of the best Father’s Day gifts a dad could ask for!).

As I was writing this newsletter, the announcement came that we have officially entered a bear market. However, the increased demand for experienced talent within the wealth industry shows no signs of slowdown, even as we enter the summer months.

Our clients consistently and increasingly ask us for help with identifying individuals and teams with specific AUM size and/or T-12’s.  In a very tough market, I encourage firms to also consider candidates from related areas such as institutional, commercial, private equity or investment banking, as these folks typically have very strong and large COI’s. Additionally, I strongly urge firms to keep a close eye on recognizing the market value of your talent. The days of yearly bonuses and reviews in this heightened market are gone.  Companies are proactively valuing their employees, not waiting for them to seek out approval and compensation – and, oftentimes, leaving for a better opportunity when they know they deserve one. I recently witnessed this firsthand. My son graduated from college last May and has been working as a software engineer since November 2021. In May of 2022 (his 6 month anniversary), without any notice or request on his part, he was informed that his base salary was being increased by 10K. The company cited his excellent work and dedication but, more tellingly, they pointed out their awareness of what competitors are paying for similar positions. They made the effort to reward an employee they obviously do not want to lose.  I have to commend his firm’s HR director for adjusting the salary to stay market competitive. I use this as an example to encourage those in a leadership capacity to have a current market analysis done on your compensation plans every quarter.  Furthermore, let’s not forget the inflation rate is at a 40-year high; your staff’s living expenses are increasing at a rate we have not seen since the early 1980’s.  To that end, Avior provides a thorough and tailored market analysis with each engaged assignment.

Several clients with whom we work with are finally realizing that they can no longer take their time during a search process the way they once did. In a way, it mirrors the competition within the housing and car sales markets; both are seeing a shortage of inventory and, as a result, demand is overwhelming, and consumers are making purchases as quickly as possible. This immediate response in sales coupled with ever-increasing inflation not only indicates an uptick in compensation and bonus levels, but also demonstrates the need for firms to present a compelling plan to attract and retain talent.  Citibank in particular has been seeing a large exodus of senior-level talent as a result of their reconfigured compensation plans. Please see the announcement of Rodrigo Collada’s recent move to Morgan Stanley, especially several senior private bankers who have moved to the advisory model.  In addition, RIA’s, independent BD’s, multi-family offices and private equity firms continue to become destinations of choice.  To be fair, there will always be a segment of clients that want the brand names. However, compared to just 5 years ago, we have seen a 45% increase in our clientele of RIA’s/ MFO’s – and the numbers continue to grow. As always, my staff and I welcome hearing from you and encourage your feedback. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any help.

In conclusion, I want to welcome our newest addition to the Avior Executive Search family – Masad Dalie, who recently joined us as our Digital Marketing Manager and New Business Development Specialist. Masad, who is based in his native Nicaragua, possesses extensive marketing expertise and we are thrilled to have him on our team. Please see his LinkedIn profile here.