Accountancy Capital places qualified finance professionals within financial services businesses at £50,000 and above across the UK. Our financial services practice covers the full range of FCA-regulated and FS-adjacent businesses: asset managers, investment firms, wealth managers, hedge funds, private equity-backed platforms, insurance businesses, IFA networks, fintechs, payments firms, banking subsidiaries and financial services groups. These businesses need the same core qualified finance skills — ACA, ACCA or CIMA, month-end close, management accounts, statutory reporting — but in a context that imposes specific additional demands on the finance function that are absent from general commercial businesses.
Finance professionals with genuine financial services experience command a premium in the market of 15–25% over equivalents at non-regulated businesses of comparable size. That premium reflects a real skill differential — the candidate who has managed a CASS reconciliation, produced an ICARA capital adequacy report and presented to a risk committee brings capabilities that take years to develop and that are not easily substituted by a strong commercial FC who has never worked inside a regulated firm. Accountancy Capital maintains active candidate relationships in this specific pool across London and the UK.
What Makes the FS Finance Function Different
Three specific dimensions distinguish finance work inside FCA-regulated businesses from the equivalent at a non-regulated commercial company. The first is regulatory capital. FCA-regulated firms must maintain a minimum level of regulatory capital — typically defined under ICARA (Investment Firm Capital Adequacy Assessment) for MiFID investment firms, or equivalent frameworks for other regulated entity types — and the finance function is responsible for calculating, monitoring and reporting that capital position. The management accountant who has never calculated an Own Funds requirement or completed a GABRIEL return will need significant time to develop that capability independently.
The second is client money and client assets. FCA-regulated firms that hold client money or assets must comply with the Client Asset Sourcebook (CASS), which imposes strict segregation, reconciliation and reporting requirements. The daily and monthly CASS reconciliation is a finance function responsibility in most regulated firms. It requires specific procedural knowledge, rigorous controls and the ability to identify and investigate breaks quickly — a failure in the client money reconciliation process creates a regulatory breach with direct FCA notification obligations.
The third is regulatory reporting. All FCA-regulated firms submit periodic data returns to the FCA via GABRIEL, covering financial resources, capital adequacy, revenue and business metrics. Larger firms under CRD also submit COREP and FINREP returns to the PRA. These returns require the finance function to translate management accounting data into a regulatory reporting format that is specific to the firm’s regulatory classification and that changes when the regulatory framework changes. The accountant who has produced these returns before is significantly more efficient and accurate than one learning the system for the first time.
Finance Roles at Financial Services Firms — Salary Benchmarks
| Role | London (FS sector) | General Market | FS Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Controller | £80k–£115k | £65k–£95k | +15–20% |
| Finance Manager | £68k–£90k | £55k–£78k | +15–18% |
| Finance Business Partner | £72k–£100k | £60k–£85k | +15–22% |
| FP&A Manager | £70k–£98k | £62k–£88k | +10–15% |
| Management Accountant | £58k–£78k | £50k–£68k | +12–18% |
| Regulatory Reporting Manager | £65k–£95k | n/a (FS-specific role) | Specialist premium |
These premiums reflect genuine skill scarcity rather than sector inflation. The financial services sector in London employs a large number of finance professionals, but the pool of qualified ACA/ACCA/CIMA-qualified accountants with specific in-sector experience — particularly those who have owned a month-end close process at a regulated firm and produced FCA regulatory returns independently — is smaller than the demand for them. Businesses that benchmark their FS finance roles against general commercial data will consistently find their shortlists thinner and their preferred candidates more expensive than expected.
Brief a Finance Search at Your Regulated Business
Accountancy Capital places qualified finance professionals within FCA-regulated and financial services businesses at £50,000 and above. Call us for a direct view on candidate availability and salary benchmarks before you brief the search.
Talk to us → or call 0204 553 8893
Qualifications for Finance Roles at Financial Services Firms
The qualification requirements at FS finance roles are broadly the same as at commercial businesses — ACA, ACCA or CIMA for most Financial Controller, Finance Manager and Management Accountant roles. The ACA qualification is particularly well-represented in FS finance because many FCA-regulated firms recruit from practice backgrounds and because the statutory reporting demands of a regulated finance function — particularly at asset managers and investment firms with complex fund structures — require the technical depth that the ACA provides. ACCA-qualified candidates are strongly represented at Finance Manager and Management Accountant level across the full range of regulated businesses.
Beyond the core qualification, the skills that command the highest premium in FS finance roles are: direct experience of FCA regulatory reporting (GABRIEL, ICARA, COREP); familiarity with CASS requirements and client money reconciliation; experience with fund accounting software or investment management platforms (SimCorp, Advent Geneva, Investran, Temenos); and the ability to communicate financial information to non-finance stakeholders including compliance teams, risk committees and FCA supervisors. Verify ACA qualification status through the ICAEW member directory and ACCA through the ACCA Find an Accountant tool before making any senior finance appointment at a regulated firm.
The CFO at Your Regulated Firm: FD Capital
Accountancy Capital covers the finance team below SMF2 level. For the CFO or Finance Director appointment at your FCA-regulated firm — including the SMF2 designation, Statement of Responsibilities and FCA Individual Accountability Framework obligations — contact our sister practice FD Capital, which has a dedicated SMCR and regulated-sector CFO practice. For senior risk, compliance and board-level appointments, see FD Capital (SMF16/17) and NED Capital (SMF9, SMF10/11, SMF14).
A Note from Our Founder — Adrian Lawrence FCA
Financial services businesses consistently underestimate how long it takes to hire a well-qualified FC or FM with genuine FS experience. The challenge is that the candidates who combine ACA/ACCA qualification with direct experience of regulated-firm finance — ICARA capital adequacy, CASS reconciliations, regulatory reporting — are a genuinely scarce subset of an already competitive qualified finance market. They receive more approaches than generalist finance candidates and move to offers faster.
The businesses that consistently hire the best FS finance professionals are those that come to the market with a competitive salary — which means the FS premium, not the general finance range — a clear brief and the willingness to move from shortlist to offer in two to three weeks rather than stretching the process out over two months. In a candidate-short market, process speed matters as much as salary.
Adrian Lawrence FCA
Founder, Accountancy Capital — Qualified finance recruitment specialists, £50,000 and above. Adrian is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales — verify via ICAEW.
Related Services
| Asset Management FC and finance team recruitment for asset managers. | Fintech & Payments Finance recruitment for fintechs and payments firms. | Regulatory Reporting GABRIEL, ICARA and COREP reporting specialists. | CASS & Client Money Client money and CASS reconciliation specialists. |
Finance Recruitment for Financial Services Businesses
Accountancy Capital places qualified finance professionals within financial services and FCA-regulated businesses across the UK at £50,000 and above. We respond the same day on all new briefs.
Tell us about your hire → 0204 553 8893 — Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm