Building a US Financial Services Consulting Practice

 

Situation:

River entered a Partnership with the Global Head of FS to build out capabilities in New York and Charlotte across Banking, Wealth and Asset Management and Climate Risk. 

Outcome:

2 Partner placements – New York and Charlotte. 

River was able to assimilate a complex set of briefs, manage a broad and diverse global stakeholder community, and ultimately deliver mapping, market insights and well qualified candidate shortlists across both New York and Charlotte markets; meeting all quality expectations ahead of schedule. The longlist contained approx. 60%/40% male/female spilt, as we strove to identify a diverse talent pool.

Written by:

Alexandra Baskerville

Partner

Alexandra runs our North American business and leads the global Strategy & Transformation Team at River Partnership.  She works with a blend of Professional Services firms, Corporates and Private Equity on their most strategic leadership positions.  Known for her hands on approach, consultative style and passion for diversity and inclusion, Alex is an expert in climate/ESG, digital, design, restructuring and performance improvement.

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Delivering Growth across the MENA region for a Global Strategy Consultancy

 

Situation:

River was commissioned a global Management Consultancy, to hire one Public Sector Partner in Dubai. The firm had been previously using a SHREK recruitment firm who had been unsuccessful. Having been unable to appoint a single Partner in 3 years, River were brought in to accelerate the process and collaborate with senior executives to execute the mandate.

Within 18 months, River hired 3 Public Sector Partners and built a new Private Capital practice, which included one Partner, one Principal, one Engagement Manager, and two Associates. 

Through his recruitment, our client initiated talks with a competitor in the MENA region which resulted in the acquisition of the firm and approximately 100 Partners and Associates.

 Outcome:

 

River mapped the MENA region and delivered on a specific mandate for the client. Beyond this, River played a critical advisory role, providing specialist support and knowledge on the region, market intelligence, as well as compensation and corporate structures to enable the acquisition and growth of our client. 

River has since become a trusted partner, and we are retained on all Partner searches worldwide. 

Client satisfaction: 

“River are the most successful recruitment partner we have ever used in the Middle East” Managing Partner, Head of India, Middle East & Africa

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    Written by:

    Alexandra Baskerville

    Partner

    Alexandra runs our North American business and leads the global Strategy & Transformation Team at River Partnership.  She works with a blend of Professional Services firms, Corporates and Private Equity on their most strategic leadership positions.  Known for her hands on approach, consultative style and passion for diversity and inclusion, Alex is an expert in climate/ESG, digital, design, restructuring and performance improvement.

    Connect on LinkedIn

    Building a North American Consulting Practice

     

    The North American Consumer Leader of a global consultancy ($1.6 billion revenue) enlisted our services to recruit Partner and Principals with a focus on strategy and transformation in the food and beverages sector.  The initial ask was 10 Principals and 2 Partners. The success of our initial efforts and mapping resulted in an extension to the engagement to include building a new Agribusiness practice.  

    Stakeholders:

    • Global Head of Industries
    • Head of North America
    • North American Consumer Leader

    Impact over 12 months:

    • 4 Partners in Chicago, Miami and New York
    • 1 Agribusiness Team Build
    • 6 Principals
    • 75% female shortlist at Principal
    • 50% female shortlist at Partner
    Written by:

    Alexandra Baskerville

    Partner

    Alexandra runs our North American business and leads the global Strategy & Transformation Team at River Partnership.  She works with a blend of Professional Services firms, Corporates and Private Equity on their most strategic leadership positions.  Known for her hands on approach, consultative style and passion for diversity and inclusion, Alex is an expert in climate/ESG, digital, design, restructuring and performance improvement.

    Connect on LinkedIn

    UK CEO for Global Digital Bank

     

    The global CEO of a major digital bank was seeking a UK CEO. They retained River to conduct the search and market mapping exclusively.

    Actions:

    Leveraging our network, knowledge of the market and ability to quickly mobilise, we were able to map the markets and businesses where this candidate was likely to come from.

    Outcome:

    Because of our research and data-led approach, River were able to source high quality, benchmarked candidates who were recommended for interview in a timely manner and in-line with our clients expectations. Within a month of beginning the process, our client had a new UK CEO.

    Group Head of Financial Crime for major European Bank

     

    Situation:

    The Group Head of Financial Crime at a major, European bank retained River to conduct a search for a Head of Financial Crime.

    Actions:

    Within one week River were able to leverage its European network and conduct primary research to advise on the current market composition.

    Outcome:

    Providing the data and insights to allow the group Head of Financial Crime to make informed, data-led hiring decisions. Assessed, benchmarked and successfully completed the hire of a Head of Financial Crime and a Deputy Head of Financial Crime.

    3 x Leadership Team hires for a Global (re)insurance Leader

     

    Context:

    The Group CFO at a leading insurer retained River to conduct a search for 3 x Leadership Team hires: Group Chief Actuary, Head of M&A & Director of Financial Controls.

    Objective:

    They wished to understand the structures of competitor group functions, Identify the location of Insurance leaders, benchmark and hire the best people.

    Methodology:

    Within one and a half weeks the team at River were able to leverage its European network and conduct primary research to provide a live view of the current market composition (see figure 1). A total of 235 candidates identified.

    Result:

    Providing the data and insights to allow the client to make informed, data-led decisions. River assessed, benchmarked, shortlisted and then recommended three leadership hires which were all executed successfully.

    Written by:

    Jamie Stokes

    Partner, Global Client Development

    Jamie is a founding partner of River Partnership and takes a hands-on role in the continued growth of the operation his vision helped create. His 18-years’ executive search experience – winning and working mandates across Europe for leading financial services institutions, corporates and management consulting firms – has been recognised with several external awards.

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    Global Leadership Build for Consumer Products Client

     

    Situation:

    River was instructed by a Global Consumer Products leader to recruit a global leadership team for one of its newly acquired brands: namely MD and Global Commercial Director (London); MD and Head of APAC Region; MD Head of Sales EMEA (based in Cologne), and MD and Head of Southern Africa. The culture of the business is highly entrepreneurial, and the leadership team is widely dispersed globally and highly decentralised. The client emphasised the need for best in class capability for all candidates, a need for both subject matter specialisation and breadth of leadership skills, often in Tier 2 geographic office locations.

    Outcome:

    River was able to assimilate a complex set of briefs (each subtly different), manage a broad and diverse global stakeholder community, and ultimately deliver mapping, market insights and well qualified candidate shortlists across all geographic regions; meeting all quality expectations ahead of schedule. The longlist contained approx. 60% / 40%, male / female spilt, as we strove to identify a diverse talent pool.

    Leadership Team Build APAC

     

    Situation:

    Global Leadership sought to invest and build presence in one of the most strategically important growth markets, China, and in particular to build out an automotive and manufacturing industries team from scratch specifically targeting local Senior Partner lateral hires from competitor firms. The client wished to identify a search firm that had both the network, the reach, the methodology and the “find a way” culture to break into what is a highly complex and idiosyncratic local Chinese marketplace. At the same time they needed a search partner that could help market their brand in such a way that it could appeal to even the most successful Leadership Candidates currently employed by direct MBB competitors.

    Actions:

    River were mandated to assist and flew a team into Shanghai to lead the project. The River team conducted a large-scale regional research process and identified and mapped more than 160 predominantly Chinese national leaders in Strategy Consulting in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The team helped to qualify and ascertain the talent pools key client relations, pricing strategies, sales and innovative assets and consulting IP.

    Outcome:

    In less than 9 months The River team has completed 3 successful Senior Partner hires all from direct competitor business covering Digital, Insurance and AMI sectors. The search continues and we expect to close a further 3 Senior Partner Hires that will likely include two female partners.

     

    APAC General Manager

     

    Situation:

    A major name beauty brand, owned but managed independently from its parent company was looking to accelerate growth in Greater China and APAC region. At the same time the incumbent GM was returning to Europe the company was seeking to find a locally based APAC GM to double turnover in a short timeline.

    Actions:

    Client expectation was very high and before contacting any candidates, River was able to map and list all suitable candidates from the very short list of suitable competitor companies. A total of 47 candidates was identified with a core target hotlist of 17 candidates. As both client and River knew this would take time to court suitable GMs from other houses, extra time was taken to understand candidate’s individual personal circumstances and motivations before shortlisting.

    Outcome:

    From a hotlist of 17 target candidates, a shortlist of 4 was produced based on accuracy to the mandated requirements and individual career aspirations. Because of our research and data-led approach, River were able to source high quality, benchmarked candidates who were recommended for interview in a timely manner and in-line with our client’s expectations. Within 19 weeks of beginning the process, our client had a new APAC GM.

     

    VP, SVP and MD search for a Global Bank

     

    Situation:

    River Partnership were retained by a Global Bank to assist with the build out of their internal consulting team. The brief was to hire 5+ candidates at Assistant Vice President, Vice President and Managing Director grade. The River Partnership team were tasked with identifying candidates working in either external consulting firms or internal strategy, transformation or digital teams within industry. The specific focus was for candidates with experience in digital customer strategy, digital marketing and customer experience, digital operating model and/or data & analytics.

    Actions:

    We approached our extensive FS network in Germany and also commenced River’s proprietary search methodology. Our team identified 124 potential target candidates across Germany. In addition to consulting firms and internal industry teams, River identified candidates from “hidden” talent pools including BigTech & FinTechs firms. So far the team has met and or spoke with 105 individuals, conducted situation-based interviews and presented the top performing candidates to the client.

    Outcome:

    As well as a shortlist, River provided industry insights and competitor information to the client. Within four months of starting the project, the client had hired seven candidates (2 more than River were initially mandated to find).

    Written by:

    Jamie Stokes

    Partner, Global Client Development

    Jamie is a founding partner of River Partnership and takes a hands-on role in the continued growth of the operation his vision helped create. His 18-years’ executive search experience – winning and working mandates across Europe for leading financial services institutions, corporates and management consulting firms – has been recognised with several external awards.

    Connect on LinkedIn