Aktuelles – BiermannNeff | Executive Search & Talent Selection

Current News from

BiermannNeff

Q2 2026

RECRUITMENT RADAR

Structural Change or Summer Slowdown?

At first glance, the market appears quieter. Fewer open roles, longer processes and more cautious decision-making. However, interpreting this purely as a seasonal summer slowdown would fall short.

In our view, Asset Management is undergoing a phase of profound structural change. Consolidation, increasing cost pressure, the continued shift towards passive investments, technological developments and changing investor needs are reshaping the industry in a lasting way. Private Markets remain an important growth driver – but they will not be able to solve the challenges of the Asset Management industry on their own.

We are observing increasing differentiation across the market and in the assessment of talent. While selected areas continue to see targeted investment, many firms are acting far more selectively and with greater risk awareness. Decision-making processes are taking considerably longer, governance requirements are increasing, and entrepreneurial courage is becoming rarer.

Our observations:

Private Markets remain one of the most important growth drivers – but they are not the answer to the industry’s structural challenges.
The ongoing shift towards passive investments continues to put pressure on margins, business models and personnel structures in active Asset Management.
Decision-making processes are becoming longer and involve more stakeholders.
Speed is increasingly becoming a decisive competitive advantage.
Companies talk about transformation – yet often recruit for continuity.
Artificial Intelligence is already changing job profiles and ways of working in a tangible way.

Transformation, in particular, is increasingly shaping our discussions. Many companies want innovation, new ideas and entrepreneurial thinking. AI is changing almost everything. At the same time, candidates are often expected to have already held exactly the same function, covered the same client segment and worked with the same products.

“We expect change – but often look for CVs that contain as little change as possible. Diversity needs to be lived much more actively – and by diversity we mean age, professional background and talent.”

Openness towards different career paths, international experience or deliberately different perspectives often remains below its potential – particularly in the DACH region. This applies not only to professional backgrounds, but also to topics such as age, mobility or unconventional career paths. Yet innovation rarely emerges from homogeneity. The costs and perceived risks of failure are too high in the DACH region – across all areas. We should be much braver in seizing opportunities, embracing new ideas and accepting the possibility of making mistakes.

Those who want to shape transformation must be willing to recognise potential, bring different experiences together and consciously acknowledge the value this creates – culturally, organisationally and, in many cases, also in terms of compensation.

Artificial Intelligence adds another important dimension. Many tasks will change or become automated. Precisely for this reason, we believe it is important not to save on tomorrow’s talent today. If junior positions are permanently reduced because certain tasks can be automated in the short term, the industry risks creating a gap in experienced specialists and future leaders in a few years’ time. A future-ready industry needs both experience and emerging talent. The financial industry should see itself as a melting pot for ideas, diverse backgrounds and entrepreneurial personalities.

Compensation & Recruiting: Quality Instead of Automatism

The changes described above are increasingly reflected in recruiting and compensation. Here, too, we are observing far greater differentiation than just a few years ago.

Our observations:

In traditional Asset Management, salary development is flattening noticeably in some areas; in selected segments, we are already seeing deflationary tendencies.
At the same time, top profiles and specialised roles – particularly in Private Markets – continue to command highly attractive compensation packages.
Variable compensation is moving away from purely quantitative bonus models towards more discretionary and long-term-oriented remuneration structures.
Candidates are increasingly willing to accept lower short-term compensation components or give up parts of bonus, deferred compensation or carry models if the long-term perspective is convincing.
The quality of the role, corporate culture and the credibility of management are gaining importance compared with the short-term optimisation of the overall compensation package.

At the same time, however, we are also observing increasing caution on the candidate side. The economic environment, longer decision-making processes and broader uncertainty mean that even attractive career opportunities are being questioned more critically. Perceived security too often outweighs opportunity.

Our perspective – AI & the human assessment of talent

This is precisely the environment in which we see our value. As a specialised executive search advisory firm, we know not only CVs, but the people behind them – their motivation, their potential and their ability to succeed sustainably in a new environment.

We intentionally go beyond being intermediaries and act as sparring partners for companies and candidates alike. Especially in a market that is becoming more complex, more selective and more dynamic, we help make potential visible – including where it may not be obvious at first glance. We support companies in making courageous people decisions in a well-informed way, and in assessing candidates not only against a job description, but also in terms of their long-term contribution to the company’s success.

Because we are convinced: the most successful teams of the future will not be those that merely tick every box on a job description. They will be the teams that bring together different experiences, perspectives, generations and personalities.

Transformation requires courage – including in people decisions.

GERMANY / AUSTRIA

Q4 ‘25

Q1 ‘26

Q2 ‘26

Trend
Q3-Q4

Medium hiring activity

Declining
hiring activity

Private Markets IR/
Fundraising

Wholesale Sales

Institutional Sales

Research & Portfolio Management

Marketing & Client Service

Legal / Compliance

Operations & Risk

SWITZERLAND