The 24th June saw the release of the Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini 13th Annual World Wealth Report. As expected this showed a marked decrease in the wealth of the world’s richest individuals.

At the end of 2008 the global HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals) population dropped 15% from 10 million in 2007 to 8.6 million in 2008 and their wealth dropped 19.5% to $32.8 trillion. Ultra-HNWIs came off even worse, seeing a decrease in their wealth of a whopping 23.9%. As Capgemini says, “The declines were unprecedented, and wiped out two robust years of growth in 2006 and 2007.”

Specific regions continue to host large percentages of the total global HNWI population, namely North America, Asia, and Europe. The top 3 countries for HNWI population - U.S., Japan, and Germany - together accounted for 54 percent of the world's HNWI population in 2008, up slightly from 53.3 percent in 2007. China's HNWI population surpassed that of the U.K. to become the fourth largest in the world.

In Europe, France saw a 12.6% decrease in HNWIs whilst the figure was only 2.7% in Germany. In the Asia Pacific area, Japan had a decrease of 9.9% whilst the number of HNWIs in Hong Kong fell by a whopping 61.3% to a mere 37,000.

Just like the rest of us, HNWIs did take measures to protect their wealth and allocated more of their income to fixed-income investments, cash and liquid assets. They also increased their real-estate holdings by 4%.

“This year's World Wealth Report shows a distinct shift from our reports in recent years,” said Bertrand Lavayssière, Managing Director Global Financial Services, Capgemini. “After a year of significant volatility, we’re seeing a shift in HNWI activity and priorities. There are currently opportunities for wealth management firms and advisors to understand and effectively address increased client concerns by helping to navigate through the uncertain economic times and build relationships that will continue well into the future.”

So, what are the prospects for the future wealth of these individuals? Capgemini Merrill Lynch predicts that overall HNWI financial wealth will grow to $48.5 trillion (that’s a 50% increase on this year’s figures) by 2013, advancing by an annual rate of 8.1 percent. North America and the Asia-Pacific regions are predicted to lead in wealth growth, with Asia-Pacific surpassing North America by 2013. These regions will be spurred by increasing U.S. consumer spending and the extension of the autonomy of the Chinese economy, already sparking a new increase in consumer demand.

Do the predictions surprise you? Do you think that the Asia-Pacific region is set to surpass North America by 2013? And what does the future have in store for Europe’s HNWIs?

Company secretaries should enjoy greater independence, according to a leading company chairman.

Peter Brown, chairman of Synergy Holdings Ltd, argued in last week’s Financial Times that the company secretary ‘must answer to the independent chairman or senior independent director and not to the chief executive’.

‘This means that their pay and benefits are settled by the independent directors as they are the only secretariat available to non-executives within the company,’ he added. ‘Advice is often influenced by, and helpful to, those with bonus and salary review rights that must be taken by and remain with the non-executives.’

His comments echo recommendations made in ICSA’s submission to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)’s review of the Combined Code, and views expressed by ICSA Policy and Strategy Director David Wilson in an article also published by the Financial Times in April.

Is this opinion shared by the majority of Cosecs? In a recent mailout to our CSS clients and candidates we asked ‘Who do you think the company secretary should report to?’ We were delighted with the level of response; it’s obviously a subject that Company Secretaries feel strongly about!

Over half of you believe that the Company Secretary should report to the Chairman but CEOs should not be unduly concerned, as some 25% considered that this should be the reporting line, and many of those who voted for the Chairman also felt that there should also be a dotted line to the CEO. And - where the Chairman is a non-exec - there is support for a stronger link to the CEO.

In both cases, many responses mentioned that the remit of the Company Secretary should be taken into account, with the report being to the Chairman on corporate governance matters, and the CEO on operational matters. To put this into context, a significant number of respondees made it clear that the remit of today’s Company Secretary should cover – indeed, focus on - key corporate governance responsibility, taking the role beyond that of corporate administration.

However, one – perhaps controversial - response commented that “Normally the Head of Legal Finance or Compliance to heads up the Governance department so it makes sense for the Company Secretary to report to one of these Heads; the Company Secretary is meant to provide board support in an independent manner and reporting to the CEO or Chairman will blur this.”

On the other hand, several voiced the opinion the Company Secretary should be a stand-alone board-level position, and many commented that the primary imperative is to ensure that the Company Secretary – as the ‘conscience of the company’ - is properly supported in being an effective and influential independent voice.

On respondent mentioned that the title of Company Secretary is probably somewhat outdated and doesn't truly reflect the level of seniority or responsibility that the Company Secretary takes on in the twenty-first century!

What do you think? As stricter compliance regulations come into force to prevent another financial meltdown, is it time to rethink the way Cosecs are remunerated and who they should answer to? We’d love to hear your views…

Accountancy Age has just published its annual list of the Top 50 accountancy firms and not surprisingly just nine of the Top 50 increased growth on their previous figures. Four in five firms saw growth rate slow, some dramatically on previous years – and nine posted negative growth figures.

The Top 10 list remains virtually unchanged on last year with only positions 9 (Tenon Group) and 10 (PKF UK) changing places. PricewaterhouseCoopers again tops the list with a UK fee income of £2,244m, followed by Deloitte and KPMG. Deloitte experienced a growth rate of 11.5% (£2,010m), down on the previous year’s 15.6%.

Confidence for the year ahead is mixed; 32% of respondents said they expected revenue growth rate to be higher than last year, 35% said lower while 33% thought it would remain about the same.

Although one third of the surveyed firms expect to increase UK partner numbers this year the outlook for firm’s other staff isn’t so favourable. 25% expect to reduce support staff while 17% will cut professional staff numbers. It doesn’t look too promising for graduates either as only 2 firms expect to increase graduate recruitment.

Tax departments have also suffered with only six firms having an increased growth for tax revenues over previous years. However more than 33% of the firms that reported figures (33 out of 50) did see double-digit growth.

From our perspective in tax, the volume of recruitment may be down but that’s not to say the market has ground to a halt. There will always be a certain number of vacancies in tax due to the nature of the business and our view is that once the economy picks up, the tax job market will be one of the first to respond.

As part of BLT’s newly reinvigorated Corporate & Social Responsibility Programme, this morning we visited the Raine’s Foundation School in Bethnal Green, London in order to undertake practice interviews with year 12 pupils (aged 16 – 17 year olds). The aim was to give students a true interview experience based on their pre-prepared ‘mini’ cvs in order to help them apply for higher education or employment.

A truly enjoyable morning talking to the pupils about their studies, aspirations and hobbies was had by all. Catriona, Michelle, Dave, Becky and I would like to thank the pupils and staff at the Raine’s Foundation School for their warm welcome and for their time, as well as to the staff at City Action and the Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership charity for arranging this rewarding and inspirational experience.

I saw this article in the FT and it caught my eye

Tax Rules Fuelled Credit Boom says IMF.

What are your thoughts? It’s an interesting angle I hadn’t thought about before..

Don attended the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) launch event in May for its report on the UK consulting industry in 2008 (fees grew by 5%, was the headline). What really struck him were the projections for 2009 and 2010, however.

If he has deciphered his scribbled notes correctly, these are the takeaways:
- fees to contract by 5%
- financial services consulting to decline by 15%
- public sector to increase by 5%

It seems that the public sector will cushion the contraction in private sector consulting during 2009, then a new Government in 2009/10 will cut public sector consulting spend... but just as the financial services vertical is recovering. Consulting staff will be switched from public sector consulting to financial services (the flow was the in the opposite direction in 2008). There’s the threat of another 5% contraction in the industry in 2010, then a period of “fast recovery”.

The MCA also reported that their members (who represent about 70% of the UK industry by fee income) saw an increase of 12% in staff numbers in 2008. I’m surprised: we certainly didn’t record a similar rise in the number of hires BLT made into consulting firms. (Note to self: must do better.)
So roll on 2011….

Last week Caroline attended the Corporate Governance Circle event hosted by the Investment Management Circle, at which Lord Myners and Matthew Taylor gave their views and entered into a lively discussion around the question ‘Institutional Investors – The Weakest Link’ Facts and figures, incisive comments and pertinent questions came thick and fast: Did you know that

• Over the last 20 years CEO remuneration has apparently risen by around 300% with dividend values rising only by some 60%? Shouldn’t senior executive pay be linked more closely to easily measurable corporate value?

• A significant number of RBS employees were paid more that Fred Goodwin? Who and why?

• The RBS offer letter stated that the due diligence had been carried out on the HBOS acquisition was ‘limited’ yet 94% of shareholders voted for it. On what basis?

Are the boards to blame, the institutional investors, the trustees of the pension funds or the regulatory authorities?

I think all will agree that the answer definitely isn’t just one of these; each group has its own interests to protect but all must together agree a workable way forward. There were many company secretaries amongst the audience, and I have little doubt they too will have a key role to play!

Early indicators suggest there will not be huge rises in salaries this year, however, even in a slow market, it is good to have an idea of how this is affecting your sector in general. With this in mind, we are able to offer clients a bespoke benchmarking service to make sure you are up to speed on current market developments. Depending on the service you require, we can help advise you on whether current packages for you and your team are hitting the mark and also provide advice on what areas to concentrate on in the future. Do email us to book an initial discussion.

Whilst the world of tax has suffered from the global economic downturn, the good news is that a few of our clients are beginning to make plans for the future. The message appears to be that when those infamous ‘green shoots’ start to show, the world of Tax will be one of the first areas to be benefit.

That said, I think it’s fair to say that currently there are not enough roles to go round, and inevitably there are some good calibre professionals who find themselves between jobs, particularly in London and the South of England. These individuals are at a range of levels of experience, ranging from compliance ‘number crunchers’, to some very senior and experienced specialists, many with valuable in-house experience to bring with them from day one. Whilst we do appreciate that in the current climate it may be difficult to get sign off for any permanent resource, if you have any short term contract or project work you may like done over the summer months, let us know. If so, it’s likely that we would have some capable and interested parties to show you.

Check out our BLT channel on YouTube.

In order to dress for success you must shop successfully so, with this in mind, BLT and CSS held an exclusive pre-sale networking event last night at the LK Bennett Royal Exchange store. Our clients and candidates mixed business and pleasure as they indulged in some retail therapy and shared their views over a glass – or two – of champagne

There were bargains galore and many of our guests took full advantage of the specially reduced prices whilst others simply enjoyed the opportunity to chat and window shop.

As the photos reveal, it was, as ever, a popular event and one that we particularly look forward to hosting! If you would like to be alerted to the next one, let us know.

The Revenue are snapping up private sector specialists to help in the war against aggressive tax avoidance. Bankers and lawyers who have been made redundant have been hired to give a unique insight into methods used the other side of the fence. It’s an interesting development as over the last 10 years, the stream of candidates leaving the Revenue and entering the private sector has diminished. Why so? Well mainly because the benefits and flexibility offered by the Revenue is second to none and as tax becomes more complex, so the work has become more challenging. I have seen a number of candidates making this move and thriving in a new environment. Not only are they enjoying a better work/life balance but the quality of work has been high. Whether this inflow will continue in the long term is uncertain but it certainly widens the options open to tax jobseekers in the future.

It’s good news for any potential employers of VAT specialists at the moment, as there are a good number of calibre specialists (with experience at a range of levels) who find themselves between jobs or looking for short term work.

Historically, there have been very few VAT contracts around (barring the occasional maternity leave cover). When a company identified the need for extra VAT resource, it tended to be the case that it was relatively easy to get sign-off for a permanent recruit, as VAT people by and large make savings quickly thereby justifying their cost!

However, in these somewhat uncertain times, perhaps you’d love to recruit, but can’t get sign-off to take on an additional pair of hands? So if you have a particular project you want done, have some compliance issues you need sorting out, or some work that you simply haven’t had time to tackle, have a think about taking on a contractor. Give me a call (0207 405 3404) to discuss as I’m very likely to be able to help. It will probably work out cheaper than getting in a secondee from an accountancy firm after all!

Don, director of BLT, is talking alongside Google and Travis Perkins amongst others at tomorrow's ONREC conference:

Now in its fourth year, onrec.com’s highly anticipated UK Online Recruitment Conference 2009 is set to be the biggest and best yet. Once again, this event will combine a 1 day conference packed with information, insights and innovation with networking opportunities and an expo hall of suppliers.

Full conference programme here

Don's presentation is entitled: "I heard it through the Grapevine: How BLT recruiters use corporate social networks to connect with clients & candidates". A copy will be posted onto our slideshare account http://www.slideshare.net/BLT after the event.
Don will be accompanied by Paul Harrison of Carve Consulting who work with us on our corporate social networking strategies.