Asset managers in Europe looking to upgrade their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) expertise are having to compete in a tight market for talent, says Cerulli Associates. “Asset managers are seeing more demand than supply of ESG talent,” says Justina Deveikyte, director, European institutional asset management research.
Asset managers in Europe looking to upgrade their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) expertise are having to compete in a tight market for talent, says Cerulli Associates. “Asset managers are seeing more demand than supply of ESG talent,” says Justina Deveikyte, director, European institutional asset management research. Around 61% of the asset managers across Europe strongly agree or agree that there is a war for talent in the ESG sales domain. As the ESG market expands and products gain in sophistication, regulators and investors are demanding greater transparency and requiring expertise from asset managers. In response, managers are having to upskill existing employees or recruit talent. “Several asset managers have commented that their products are less salable if they do not have the appropriate level of expertise because investors now have a higher base level of expectation around ESG,” says Deveikyte. Some 63% of asset manager respondents in the UK and 59% in Germany view ESG capability as a very important or important enabler of fund sales. To meaningfully engage with clients, there is increasingly a requirement for salespeople to be more technically skilled around ESG and regulation. Overall, 59% of the asset managers in Europe strongly agreed or agreed that they will improve the ESG expertise of their sales teams via recruitment or training.
