The credit crunch means Irish derivatives specialists working in London want to come home.

Ronan Colleran, a director of recruitment firm Accreate in Dublin, says that in the past two weeks he has received numerous calls from Irish derivatives people in London concluding it’s time to head home because the market is running out of steam.

At least one Irish high flyer has already come a cropper: Edward Cahill, a securitisation specialist, parted company with Barclays Capital in London last month after being associated with considerable losses related to the US sub-prime bonds crisis.

James Hayes, manager of the banking & financial services division at Robert Walters in Dublin, says Cahill and friends will be welcome back home: “There is indeed a shortage of suitably experienced derivatives specialists within the Irish market.”

Hayes says there hasn’t been any notable increase in people coming back to Dublin just yet. But he adds that those who do head home now command remuneration that’s both more competitive and more closely linked to the London market than two or three years ago.

Colleran says the smaller, younger Irish derivatives market has compensated for the lack of experienced candidates by taking the cream of the ACA crop and moulding them into structured product specialists.

These newly-qualified candidates can start on €65k a year plus a 100% bonus. Hayes adds that individuals with three years’ structured products experience can command salaries of between €80k and €90k a year. With five years’ experience, this rises to between €110k and €130k. Bonus potential for both individuals is likely to be as high as 100%.