Exclusive access to passive off-market accounting professionals,
A-Grade Talent anonymously seeking a progressive opportunity through BSR,
Your hiring needs met from newly qualified to seasoned FDs already in PE
If you want to understand more, or how to access your next exceptional hire? Email michael.muir@buysiderec.com for a confidential conversation.
Finance Leadership
Industry Experience:
PE & Big 4 Audit
Education:
ACA & 1st (Hon) Computer Systems Engineering
Key Skills & Experience:
- CFO level for GP, LPs, Investment Project Companies, SPVs
- Due Diligence and structuring for new investments
- Business Manager for Board and key executives
- Attracting, retaining and coaching finance leadership teams
- Oversight of Fund Control, Audit, Regulation, Compliance, IT, Treasury & IR
- Commitees – Asset Management, Operations, Treasury, IT, M&A, Tax Strategy, Liquidity, pricing & valuations
Career Path
- Started in Big 4 Audit leaving after 4 years for industry
- Continually progressed within world class PE brands
- Became FD at a well know PE Fund at a time of tremendous growth
- Currently FD of the PE subsidery of a Global Bank
BSR Insight
- Seasoned and very well regarded Finance Director / CFO / COO with a broad set of experience within world-class PE firms. Emotional intelligence to drive performance, inspire others and bring wisdom to complex problems.
Industry Experience:
PE, Debt & Top 10 Audit
Education:
ACA & 2.1 (Honours), Biology
Key Skills & Experience:
- Assist the CFO & lead on financial management & reporting for Coporate companies
- Fund Controller for several funds and over see outsourced provider
- Coordinate fund launches and oversee tax matters
- Compliance including Brexit, SMCR, FCA, GDPR and MLRO
- Business Manager for Board and key executives
Career Path
- Big 4 with Audit, strategy, operations and M&A consulting
- Clients included PE & VC houses supporting on transactions and vals
- First move into industry was current employer, a PE and Debt investor
- Broad SME Accounting experience and early into finance leadership
BSR Insight
- Future CFO calibre, quickly working their upwards accumulating a broad set of accounting skills and commercial experience. Will bring great energy, drive for excellence and help raise the profile of finance across the business with fine tuned commercial insight
Industry Experience:
PE (Infra Funds)
Education:
ACA & BA (Honours) Finance & Accounting
Key Skills & Experience:
- Board seat for SPVs across several Infrastructure sectors
- Daily financial analysis and financial modelling for Infrastructure investments
- Asset Management, commercial negotiation & strategy, corporate governance and operations
- Board and deal team stakeholder management
- Financial reporting, analysis and finance business partnering
- Project finance for PFI and SPVs, all aspects of financial control and management
Career Path
- ACA working way up through industry with broad set of experience
- Covered all aspects of finance from back to front, and now seeking a finance leadership role i.e. Financial Director
- Seeking to continue to utilise commercial acumen in PE Infrastructure
BSR Insight
- Very impressive breadth of experience and depth of knowledge about the PE Infrastructure sector having worked on transactions with many of the key players. Always impressive when working with an Accountant who also has excellent modelling, strategic and board level gravitas. Another future CFO and will be a name in the industry in years to come
Accountants
Industry Experience:
PE, VC
Education:
ACA 5+ yrs PQE & 2.1 (Honours), Economics
Key Skills & Experience:
- Management and Statutory reporting the mid-market PE Funds
- IFRS, AIFMD, SPVs, VAT, UK GAAP and UK Tax
- Fund Accounting inclusing NAV, Consolidations, fee calcs, audit, IR, drawdowns and valuations
- Several projects improving financial processes and controls
Career Path
- Top 10 with Audit and Accounts prep
- Accumulated a broad set of fund accounting, valuations (IPEV) and modelling skills
- Move in current company when newly qualified giving 6 years industry experience
BSR Insight
- Steady progression accumulating a broad set of skills and experience and now ready for a step up into Management. A reliable, bright, likeable and competent communicator focussed on advancing their career to Finance Director in due course.
Industry Experience:
Big 4 Audit, PE clients
Education:
ACA & 1st (Honours), Business, Accounting & Finance
Key Skills:
- UK reporting varying in size and complexity
- Advising my clients on their internal control environment, including suggesting improvements to policies/procedures to achieve best practices
- Strong Excel skills and exposure to a range of accounting and ERP systems.
- Confident communicator, experienced in senior levels of client management.
- Experience in managing multiple teams simultaneously
- Experience in all aspects of project management, including project scoping, budgeting, resourcing, fee negotiations, monitoring of performance against budget, identification and negotiation of scope changes.
Career Path
- Started in Big 4 Audit fast track programme
- Became Audit manager same year as qualifying
BSR Insight
- A stand out Big 4 Auditor who will be a future CFO, ambitious, hardworking, intelligent and a pleasure to deal with. Commercially savvy and great communication at all levels
Industry Experience:
Big 4 Audit, PE
Education:
ACA 4+ yrs PQE & 2.1 (Honours), Economics
Key Skills:
- Financial Analysis and reporting of UK corporate
- Financial Accounting and statutory reporting of complex multi-currency environments
- Advanced Excel skills and exposure to a range of accounting and ERP systems.
- Project Finance with long term capital intensive financial models
- Management of junior finance team responsible for operational entities in sustainable investment portfolio
Career Path
- Started in Big 4 Audit moving straight into PE
- Built breadth of experience across financial and management accounting
BSR Insight
- Very bright, professional with a good level of gravitas and credibility when dealing with senior stakeholders. Quite ambitious but sees themselves as a furture FD rather than CFO and of a PE investor.
Some of the key PE Funds Mapped
Exhaustive mapping with 4300+ qualified Buy-Side Accounting professionals in London, from newly qualified to CFO
17 Capital
Apax Partners
Apollo
Bain Capital
BC Partners
Bregal Capital
Bridgepoint
Cinven
Coller Capital
CVC
Foresight
Hermes GPE
Hg
Inflexion
ICG
IK Investment Partners
KKR
LDC
Livingbridge
Montagu
Oakley Capital
Octopus Investments
Pantheon
Permira
Pollen Street
Softbank Vision Fund
Vitruvian
Triple Point
More About
Talent I.D.
Identifying and attracting exceptional Accounting and Finance talent is challenging. Let alone from a fragmented talent pool comprised of micro-niches.
Firstly, the Investment Industries are vast in size, scale and complexity. Comprised of sub-sectors, asset classes, investment strategies with 1000s of firms ranging from start-ups, to large Corporates.
Layer the variable Accountants have similarities, but many differences such as industry background, functional experience, seniority, ambitions and personality. Each firm its own culture, systems and processes engendering nuances in experience and skills.
Resulting recruitment complaints?
- Applications containing barely relevant candidates
- Waiting on comparisons to a single credible candidate in process, then losing them to a competitor
- Blaming the recruiter for not listening, the marketing campaign not resonating or the process too slow
Talent I.D. minimises complexity, neatly calibrating talent across key factors. Enabling targeted headhunt campaigns, improving the quality of shortlists.
3 Innovative Pillars
That Underpin Talent I.D.
Focusing on factors out of their control, negatively impacting prospects, such as;
- Poor performance of funds resulting in out-flows
- Takeover or mergers, even anticipation of
- Current role duration 3-5 years with manager staying in situ
- Company paying below market rate or no bonus
- Flight ratio higher than the 12% average*
- Near-shoring & offshoring functions away from London / UK
- Lack of investment in systems, processes, and infrastructure
- Profit warnings
- Accounting function not closely aligned with Front Office
- Poor work-life balance accompanied by a lack of recognition
We support D&I and neural diversity. Hallmark vetting transcends across identities, focusing on;
- Academia – 2.1 from internationally regarded institution
- Professional Qualifications – ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, CPA, CA
- Evidence of career planning – Logical steps made to defined career goal
- Achievements – evidence of going beyond to norm
- Industry passion & knowledge
- High quality of companies worked at
- Regular progression of duty and responsibility
- Committed durations, but not coasting – 2-3 years in junior roles, 3-6 in senior
- Talent is dispersed, it requires rigour and systematic research making sure the entire market is considered.
- We utilise professional networking groups, websites, industry updates, social media and engaging directly with the community.
- Cutting edge technology & subscriptions support the integrity of data. Automation of research give up to date insights, immediately.
- Deciding on who and what to track requires industry specialist understanding.