Executive Search

With a financial executive search career spanning over 20 years, Alex Duffus has carried out searches on behalf of a variety of clients:

Sell-side
- global bulge-bracket banks, small-cap specialist brokerages, sectoral research boutiques, etc.
- recruiting predominantly equity research analysts, specialist salespeople and economists, but also candidates for supervisory analyst, editorial and product management positions.
Buy-side
- long-only institutional asset managers, hedge funds (long/short and event driven), private wealth managers, etc.
- recruiting equity analysts (either sectoral or generalist) and sector-focused portfolio managers

In addition to introducing candidates from directly competing companies, Alex has a long-standing track record of placing candidates from outside the equity research industry - from corporates, from management & strategy consultancies and from non-government organisations.

Searches have been conducted across the globe. Candidates have been sourced from Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America, South Africa, the Middle East and Australia for positions in a variety of locations.

The search process features many elements:

Client Briefing

On receiving the mandate and prior to identifying candidates, we make a point of informing the client of pertinent information, related to the search. For example, the client should be aware that a competitor is undertaking a similar search, which may have an impact on the project.

Candidate Identification

Suitable individuals will be sourced from a variety of fields - not only those in comparable roles but also those in other professions, such as management / strategy consultancy, industry, accountancy and non-government organisations.

Initial Candidate Contact

We fully recognise that we act as the first representative of the client and, as such, a candidate's first impression of our client comes from our initial approach. Therefore, it will be conducted in a highly-professional manner, backed up with an in-depth understanding of the client and the position to be filled.

Interview Process

At each stage of interview, we collate detailed feedback, highlighting both the positive and the negative comments from both parties. This allows us to advise the client on how best to structure subsequent interview rounds.

Negotiation

Equipped with a large array of compensation data-points, we are in a strong position to help client and candidate reach an agreement on terms. In addition, we are well-versed in the complexities of companies' employment contracts - such as the increasingly common "bonus clawback".

Closure

The most important element of all. We dedicate a large amount of time to briefing the candidate for the final stage of the process. We have a wealth of advice to ensure a successful resignation, avoiding the many pitfalls to which a candidate can succumb. However, resignation does not signal the end of the process. We stay in close contact with candidate throughout their period of gardening leave.