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Alternative investment funds, recently relocated to Miami, are contributing to the growth of the financial sector in Miami.
Historically, Miami has welcomed a lot of wealth management firms, private banking, and family offices, said James Kohnstamm, Miami-Dade’s Beacon Council’s executive vice president of economic development. “We’ve seen that grow exponentially.”
“There are a lot of tech roles that would not be considered your typical finance position,” he said. “There’s been a shift in the last maybe five, eight years, or so, where [companies] are becoming quantitative funds, highly technical, and where algorithms are replacing what historically was the analysis of a broker, working off their experience. Now it’s run by computer algorithms.”
Requirements for staffing are increasingly more tech-oriented, he added. “Of course, these offices also need all types of support functions, from front office to sales, but what we’re seeing is a mix of traditional financial roles from Wall Street, venture capital investment folks that are highly technical, and roles that are supporting them, which are also becoming more fin-tech.”
The biggest name to relocate to Miami and expand finance and technological roles is Citadel. The multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, founded by Ken Griffin, announced its plans to make Miami its new headquarters last June, and signed a lease in 830 Brickell.
“They already have a couple of hundred employees in multiple offices, but they’ll grow to what we anticipate being more than 1,000 employees in the Brickell area,” said Mr. Kohnstamm.
In addition, Blackstone, an alternative asset manager with more than 12,000 real estate assets, 250 portfolio companies, and over $975 billion in assets under management, also relocated recently to Miami.
The company is investing almost $25 million to bring tech talent and tech jobs to Miami, it announced last year. They currently have a lease at 2MiamiCentral in downtown, signed in 2021, with about 41,000 square feet of offices.
Millennium Management Global Investment, similarly, has more than 290 investment teams and more than $58 billion in assets. The company expanded in Miami, advertising technology roles, including front end engineers and C++ (object-oriented programming) developers.
“We seek technologists who have a strong desire to be in a high-impact role from day one… to build solutions at the cutting edge of financial technology,” John Talarico, Millennium’s global head of technology talent acquisition, previously said.
Ultimately, the company announced over 300 employees would be hired in Miami-Dade.
Another wealth management and investment bank expanding in Miami is Oppenheimer & Co., which announced in March its plans to open a Coral Gables office, moving its Coconut Grove location. The site has more than 30 financial advisors currently working.
New York-headquartered investment giant Rothschild & Co also announced in February plans to open a new Miami office.
“Traditionally, your downtown core has the real estate assets to recruit and accommodate,” said Mr. Kohnstamm. “With that said, Miami Beach has a very effective campaign and has secured some pretty big names, including Starwood Capital and Melvin Capital.”
In addition, Wynwood has been attracting a lot of tech companies, including Spotify, Blockchain.com, SA Technology, Live Nation, and Atomic Technology Solutions.
Although interest rates may have broad impacts across the economy, in Miami, Mr. Kohnstamm said, “we still see a high demand for business recruitment and business expansion. Active projects working with the Beacon Council have remained at an all-time high.”
https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2023/04/11/finance-analytical-jobs-converted-to-fin-tech-roles/
