Demand for risk professionals skyrockets after Banking Royal Commission

Salaries for “risk professionals” increased more than for any other job. SEE THE LIST OF FASTEST-GROWING SALARIES

The Banking Royal Commission — and the scramble by banks to help fix their processes — has sparked a boom in “risk professionals”.

The weight of criticism on the banks has made the financial services sector desperate to work with consultants to help identify risk, be it financial through fraud or reputational by being caught out charging insurance premiums to dead people.

New data from SEEK has revealed the average advertised salary for roles in risk consulting jumped 13.9 per cent in the 2018-19 financial year to reach $118,534.

This was the biggest increase of any job category.

***SCROLL DOWN FOR FULL LIST OF FASTEST-GROWING SALARIES***

By comparison, average advertised salaries in financial planning and retail banking dropped 2.5 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively.

SEEK employment analyst Leigh Broderick said many banks were retreating from financial planning altogether and demand for frontline branch staff was also softening, and this was affecting salaries.

Financial planners have not had the same luck as risk professionals. Picture: iStock

UNSW Business School associate professor Anthony Asher, a lecturer in risk and capital management said: “I have heard that there is a shortage of experienced people in this area.”

“But they really need people not just with the skills but the courage to point out the awkward problems.

“The actuaries and internal auditors have not been focused on customer conduct risks and now there is a want for people who can think broadly and identify these non-financial and more subjective risks.

“It’s very difficult to measure them statistically, you need a good insight into the nature of the company’s business and a risk radar.”

Dr Asher said the new ACCC probe into banks not passing on full cash rate cuts to customers may also create work for risk professionals.

“Could they be accused of collusion? That is a question a risk manager could ask,” he said.

“If they are found to be effectively acting in concert and making bigger profits than necessary to run their businesses, one might argue the government should intervene and put controls in so there would be a political risk.”

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Scott Guse of KPMG said there was a shortage of risk professionals. Picture: AAP

Risk Management Institute of Australasia (RMIA) president and chairman Anthony Ventura said there was also demand for risk professionals outside of the finance sector, such as in construction, and people came from a wide range of educational backgrounds.

“We are trying to get universities to look at having dedicated risk pathways because if we don’t catch them when they are going through university, we lose them to other sectors,” he said.

“I think there will be very strong demand for risk professionals moving forward.”

Partner in audit and risk consulting for accounting giant KPMG, Scott Guse, was not surprised “one bit” that salaries had skyrocketed in his field.

He said there was a lack of supply and recruiters struggled to find talent.

“The Global Financial Crisis was a catalyst for a focus on risk and since then the risk profession has been growing in importance,” he said.

“The royal commission has just created a whole lot of risk work, specifically in the financial sector, but there are other royal commissions being looked at too — aged care, electricity — so all organisations are seeking risk professionals at this time.”

Mr Guse, who started in audit at KPMG 26 years ago, said there was “huge” demand for people with risk qualifications however, it was a specialised role so required experience on top of any degree.

“The way the world is going, risk management is a key priority for boards and organisations but you don’t purely want to have people focusing on risk on the negative side but also turning it around into opportunities,” he said.

Mining roles are also attracting higher salaries on SEEK. Picture: iStock

The SEEK research found other job categories with significant increases in advertised salaries included:

• Automotive engineering, up 12.7 per cent year on year;

• Ambulance/paramedics, up 11.8 per cent;

• Mining exploration and geosciences, up 10.9 per cent;

Mr Broderick noted, however, that SEEK job ads did not represent salaries across an entire profession so in some sectors the figures reflected an increase in highly-skilled roles rather than strong salary growth in general.

“Wage growth is still a challenge in Australia but there are pockets of opportunity and those are centred around roles with high degrees of specialisation and roles in high demand,” he said.

“There will always be opportunities for salary growth where those two factors combine.”

FASTEST-GROWING AVERAGE SALARIES ON SEEK

Risk consulting: $118,534 average in 2018-19; up 13.9% year on year

Automotive engineering: $87,345, up 12.7%

Ambulance/paramedics: $98,677, up 11.8%

Mining — exploration and geoscience: $120,461, up 10.9%

Mining — drill and blast: $123,515, up 9.7%

Natural resources and water: $105,358, up 9.4%

Landscape architecture: $90,172, up 9.3%

Fishing and aquaculture: $78,697, up 9.3%

Chemical engineering: $100,336, up 9.3%

Dietetics: $83,076, up 9%

READ MORE EMPLOYMENT NEWS IN THE CAREERS SECTION OF SATURDAY’S THE COURIER-MAIL, THE HERALD SUN, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH AND THE ADVERTISER.