• UK job expectations post Brexit decreasing, 65% investment professionals plan to continue working in the UK now, compared to 86% before the referendum
• 31% of respondents now expect a hard Brexit, previously this was only 20%
• 76% of investment professionals believe that Brexit has deteriorated the UK’s competitiveness
CFA UK today released the results of its latest survey analysing how Brexit will affect investment professionals currently working in the UK.
Investment professionals are concerned about UK job opportunities post Brexit, with only 65% saying they would continue working in the UK post Brexit. This compares to 86% expecting to stay in the UK before the referendum.
The number of those undecided about staying also rose. More than a quarter of those surveyed this year (26%) were unsure, while only 20% in 2018 were uncertain. Seventeen percent of all investment professionals and 23% of EU respondents are now actively looking for a role outside the UK.
There was a shift in the expectation of the form that Brexit will take. The number of investment professionals expecting a soft Brexit with a transition period dropped from 53% last year to just 40% this year. On the other side, the proportion of respondents expecting a hard Brexit with no transition period was just 20% last year, growing considerably to 31% this year as negotiations continue.
EU respondents remain the most pessimistic about the strength of the UK as a financial centre. Nearly nine in ten (88%) feel that Brexit has deteriorated the UK’s competitiveness. In total, 76% of investment professionals agreed.
However, perceptions of job security have improved in the last 12 months. Twenty-one percent of investment professionals did not feel that their jobs were secure in light of Brexit compared to 24% last year. Drilling down into the numbers, EU respondents are feeling more confident, with 47% now saying that they feel their jobs are secure, up from 39% last year.
Says Will Goodhart, chief executive of CFA UK: “Brexit continues to impact investment professionals’ view of the UK’s ability to compete with other financial centres, and a relatively high proportion of EU nationals in particular are still intending to leave the UK later this year. We must do more to minimise this talent loss, or risk affecting the high calibre of our profession.”
Notes to editors:
For further information about the results or to request an interview, please contact Ogilvy Public Relations: CFASocietyUK@ogilvy.com
About the Survey
The survey opened on 3 September 2019 and closed on 16 September 2019. It was open to all CFA UK members and there was a total of 1,203 respondents.
About CFA UK
Part of the worldwide network of member societies of CFA Institute, CFA UK represents the interests of 12,000 investment professionals in the UK.
