7 Sept 2024

Executive Coaching goes Life on Linkedin

I am pleased to announce that there is now a Linkedin Page exclusively dedicated to comments on Executive Career Coaching. 

Executive Career Coach

30 Aug 2024

Will there be the 'Annual September Hiring Surge'?

The Recruitment market certainly has cooled off substantially over the past 12 months. But given the age profile of those in employment we expect a steady attrition of active staff number due to retirement. Younger age cohorts are smaller and it will not be easy to replace the departed professionals and train up the new recruits. So while the absolute numbers of hirings may well be at a lower level compared to historic numbers there will always be demand for high-quality candidates that can make a difference to the business.

29 Aug 2024

Taxes to rise in UK - what should you do?

Taxes will soon be increased on a range of incomes, revenues, in the United Kingdom. So it is incumbent on individuals as well as businesses to prepare for the announcements that are expected this autumn. Temple Associates has a long history of working in the UK and Continental Europe and can help anyone who is considering expanding activities on the Continent or even moving there.

21 Aug 2023

Acquisitions can easily misfire - especially in a People business like Fund Management

Goldman Sachs explores investment adviser sale in retreat from mass market

Careful due diligence can mitigate risks associated with Acquisitions - Temple Associates has 50+ years hands-on experience in the financial markets, in different cultures.

6 Dec 2022

More flexible Working Rights - but how much is too much?

News that UK employees are to be 'given' more flexible working rights may sound good news, but the question is: How much, and how much would be too much? It is again a policy based on Top-Down Command rather than allow market forces to find an organic solution. 

UK employees to be given more flexible working rights

21 Nov 2022

FTX collapse - First Impressions count

It is amazing how many - often sophisticated and highly intelligent - market professionals disregarded the warning signs. When meeting new people the old saying 'First impressions count' is more often than not correct. In the case of the Wunderkind Bankman-Fried my alarm bells went off the first moment I saw his photo in the media. Naturally one should not judge by outside appearance only, but at least one should take this always into consideration.
FTX collapse

20 Nov 2022

The incentive for Americans to work is being undercut

Some 85 per cent of 20,000 managers surveyed by Microsoft worldwide said the shift to hybrid work made it challenging to have confidence that employees are productive. Which may be one reason workers find it attractive.

(Irwin Stelzer, TheSundayTimes, 20 November 2022)


14 Feb 2022

Pressure to reduce Office Space

Given the increasing prevalence of working from home - be it part-time or full-time - will finally lead to a reassessment of the use of property assets by many employers. Why pay for lavish offices - often featuring huge empty spaces in the reception area that is just for show or to polish the image of the occupying business? Even if staff works only one day a week from home that could easily lead to a reduction of required floor space by 20 percent.

13 Jan 2022

Working from Home - Misleading Survey

A good example of an opinion survey that may have unintended consequences is provided here: "A survey by the recruiter Morgan McKinley found that 71pc of British white-­collar workers would contemplate quitting their roles if not offered the flexibility they desire, in a sign that remote working is here to stay even when the pandemic subsides." (Daily Telegraph, PayWall)

It is only understandable that if someone is asked: Would you CONSIDER quitting your job that they might well tick the Yes Box. But if you ask: Would you also consider quitting if then you would be unemployed or forced to take a job that pays much less? the reply might not be so positive.

So headlines and surveys that are not more carefully constructed create a false narrative and a bias in favor of home working. While certain jobs may well be suited for WFH the jury is out whether or not that model is applicable for many roles. And the silent majority who cannot work from home - police, hospital staff to name but a few - are not going to be pleased about being forced to work in a much less congenial environment, to put it mildly.

 

13 Dec 2021

Risk from Open-ended Bond Funds, BIS warning

The Cassandra of the markets is not heard, until it is too late. Maybe the BIS is overly-cautious but given the enormous growth in all types of investments the risks arising from a sudden turn in market sentiment are quite substantial. The bear markets of the Seventies could be digested in an orderly basis, apart from serious settlement problems that stemmed from the large rise in transaction volumes. But markets took the massive declines in their stride and nobody ever even thought that the financial system was at risk.

Now - as with the Covid Virus - panic is always in the air if there is the slightest risk of a substantial drop in asset prices. But while this may be overdone there is one risk that is neglected in my view: are margin levels throughout the financial system really able to cope well with a sudden sell-off of, let's say, 20-25 percent? It did happen in 1987 and fortunately that 'blip' got reversed more or less instantly. But now - when volumes are a multiple of those in 1987 - how would the system cope? The desaster that hit Credit Suisse and others when margin was insufficient earlier this year could be played out on a much much larger scale!

BIS Quarterly