Even as financial firms slim down head count, hiring is growing in one area

Hires reflect the increasingly competitive industry environment.

With increased competition from fintechs and embedded finance, financial services firms have been looking at head count with a reduction in numbers across several key players.

But while Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are among the Wall Street names who have announced job cuts in financial professional roles in the past year, new research suggests there is one area firms cannot afford to ease back on.

Fuse Research has found that marketing roles at investment managers have grown, with the number of full-time employees up 25% year over year in 2023 and hiring plans remaining robust as demand for data and digital capabilities intensifies.

The average number of full-time marketing employees averaged 33 in the 2018-2022 period but has risen to 41 in 2023 according to Marketing 2023: Optimizing Marketing Strategies.

“Growth in marketing personnel, not only at the overall level but also across all firm tiers, validates that many of the changes that elevated marketing’s role during the pandemic are here to stay, and the contributions of marketing to the sales effort will only increase,” said Michael Evans, director of BenchMark Research at Fuse Research. “It is particularly telling that marketing headcount has grown, even as firms implement significant cost-cutting measures. Firm leadership likely does not want to risk the ground marketing has gained over the last several years regarding its influence and impact on sales.”

DIGITAL REVAMP

Earlier this year Andrew Corn, head of E5A Integrated Marketing, shared some strategies with InvestmentNews to help financial professionals revamp their digital marketing, but he acknowledged the challenge for smaller advisors.

“Part of the challenge is size and focus. Asset managers tend to have deeper resources and dedicated marketing people. Some advisors may have the resources and expertise to sell directly on their own. For others, new partnerships with asset managers may be the answer. Regardless, the distribution landscape is changing rapidly and to stay ahead, advisors and asset managers will be forced to innovate,” Corn said.