Secured finance executives discuss the challenges of retaining staff in this challenging environment.

Secured finance, much like the rest of financial services, is often a high-pressure industry, requiring long hours to resolve client concerns, handle due diligence, and scout for new prospects. Professionals in the field are commonly answering emails in the wee hours of the morning and late into the night. But the greying of the industry and attrition are causing secured finance executives to take a long, hard look at employee concerns, as well as DEI, recruitment, and retention initiatives.

According to Tim Knight, vice president and senior managing partner at ThinkingAhead, a boutique executive search firm, “Secured lending is an industry where you do see a fair amount of movement.” Younger professionals, in particular, are often looking to jump to better opportunities in three or so years of employment, he notes. This generation of employees is often more comfortable with changing jobs if their career objectives aren’t being met in the current position. Knight adds that the attrition and turnover in the industry isn’t necessarily unique to secured finance. “While we are getting much better, we must continue to make strides in getting younger people involved,” he notes. “With so many options for young people to join investment banking or other areas of finance, it starts with the basics of college recruiting and evaluating younger talent from other industries.”

The Training Gap

Some of the retention issues are related to training. Banks and firms in secured lending haven’t always been widely known for having formalized and extensive training programs. SFNet has provided an alternative to in-house training through its education programs, virtually and in-person. Martin Battaglia, CEO, Eclipse Business Capital, notes, “The industry in general did not train new entrants at levels sufficient to support the industry, let alone growth. This dates back to the late 90s to as recent as several years ago.” That, coupled with industry expansion, as well as differing skill sets required by bank vs. non-bank lenders, are complicating factors. He suggests firms create training programs that allow industry members to source young talent outside of secured lending.

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