Last week, I gave my views to Ignites Europe on the Asset Management hiring landscape in EMEA.

 Navin Raina, managing director of AMC Executive Search, says: "It is safe to say the last 18 months have been difficult for investment firms that do not have a product mix that is currently in vogue and even where that is the case, fundraising and deployment has been challenged.

"As a result, hiring volumes are down across the board."

Asset managers with large European businesses are also hiring for roles covering the Middle East, which has seen huge growth in recent years following a relaxation of regulation that now allows international investment firms to distribute funds.

Raina says investment managers keen to access the sovereign wealth, family office and high net worth client groups in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are hiring relationship managers to "fly in and out" from their home bases, as well as recruiting locally.

Looking ahead recruiters expect more strategic hiring to support firms' long-term business plans, especially now bonus season is over.

"In times of stress, leaders of investment firms seek to hire people with skill sets that will meet the needs of their firms for the next five years, not the last," says Raina.

But he warns that cost and headcount reductions "are still quietly ongoing, so there is still some shakeout to happen".