SMF Capital Joins The Capital Recruitment Group: Specialist Recruitment for FCA Senior Managers

The Capital Recruitment Group has added a fifth specialist practice. SMF Capital focuses on one of the most demanding areas of senior recruitment in UK financial services: Senior Manager Function appointments at FCA and PRA-regulated firms. It sits alongside FD Capital, Exec Capital, NED Capital and Accountancy Capital, giving the group specialist coverage from qualified finance professionals through to the board.

This article explains why we’ve created SMF Capital, how it fits with the rest of the group, and what it means for the firms and candidates we work with.

Why a Dedicated Practice for Senior Managers?

Since I founded FD Capital in 2018, a growing share of our work has involved regulated firms: wealth managers, lenders, insurers, payments and fintech businesses, and investment firms. Again and again, the hardest appointments weren’t the most senior. They were the ones where the regulator had a say.

Under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, certain roles at regulated firms are designated as Senior Manager Functions. They include the chief executive, the chair, the chief risk officer, the compliance officer and the money laundering reporting officer, among others. Anyone taking one on needs the regulator’s approval before they can start, and is personally accountable for their area once appointed.

That changes how a search has to be run. A conventional executive search finds a strong candidate, makes an offer and leaves the regulatory application until the end. When the regulator then has questions, perhaps about a gap in relevant experience, something in a reference or a directorship nobody asked about, the firm has already committed and the candidate may already have resigned. A specialist practice builds the regulator’s assessment into the search from the first conversation, so those questions are answered before anyone reaches a shortlist.

Senior Manager work had been spread across FD Capital and Exec Capital, depending on the role. Bringing it together under one specialist brand gives regulated firms a single place to go for every Senior Manager appointment, and gives us the focus to do it properly.

What SMF Capital Does

SMF Capital recruits Senior Managers on a permanent, interim and fractional basis, including:

• compliance officers holding the SMF16 Compliance Oversight function
• money laundering reporting officers holding SMF17, and MLROs at payments, e-money and crypto-asset firms
• chief risk officers and chief operating officers
• chief executives where regulatory approval is central to the appointment
• chairs, committee chairs and senior independent directors
• RDR-qualified Senior Managers who also advise clients at wealth and advice firms

It also supports firms going through change: those applying for FCA authorisation, leaving an appointed representative network, moving to Enhanced status under the regime, or setting up UK branches of overseas businesses.

How the Group Fits Together

Each practice in The Capital Recruitment Group focuses on a different level of appointment. Between them, they cover the whole finance and leadership structure of a business.

The practices work together where a client needs more than one kind of appointment. A firm preparing for FCA authorisation, for example, might need a compliance officer and MLRO through SMF Capital, a finance director through FD Capital, a finance manager through Accountancy Capital and an independent non-executive through NED Capital. Clients deal with one group and one founder, rather than four or five separate recruiters.

What Stays the Same

Every search across the group is still led personally by me. I’m a Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the ICAEW with a practising certificate, and a former listed-company Finance Director. That background matters most in regulated recruitment, where understanding the numbers, the governance and the accountability is part of judging whether a candidate is right.

Our approach is also unchanged. We approach strong candidates directly and discreetly, assess them properly before introduction, and stay involved through to day one. Each practice keeps its own specialist focus, because finance, executive, board and Senior Manager appointments each need a different understanding of the market.

What It Means for Regulated Firms

For firms regulated by the FCA or PRA, the main change is clarity. Senior Manager appointments now have a dedicated home, with people who understand the designations, the firm tiers and what the regulator looks for. In practice, that means:

• searches built around the Statement of Responsibilities the new Senior Manager will hold
• candidates checked against the regulator’s fit and proper criteria before introduction
• regulatory references started early, so they don’t delay approval
• searches planned around the approval timetable, which can run to three months once a complete application is submitted
• interim and fractional options when a firm needs cover quickly or doesn’t need a full-time Senior Manager

SMF Capital also publishes free resources for firms, including guides to every Senior Manager Function, an SMF and compliance salary guide and downloadable templates for documents such as Statements of Responsibilities and fit and proper assessments. You’ll find them on SMF Capital’s free guides and templates page.

What It Means for Candidates

For compliance officers, MLROs, risk leaders and board members, SMF Capital is a route to roles that are often never advertised. Senior Manager searches are usually confidential, and the strongest appointments go to people the recruiter already knows. Candidates who register with any practice in the group can be considered for roles across it, where they’re interested.

We’re particularly keen to hear from experienced compliance officers and MLROs open to fractional or interim work, and from first-time Senior Managers ready for their first approval.

An Example of the Group Working Together

Consider a growing payments business preparing to apply for FCA authorisation as an electronic money institution. It needs an MLRO with payments experience to put in place its financial crime controls, and a compliance lead to build its monitoring programme. SMF Capital finds both, on a fractional basis to begin with. The business also needs a finance director who understands safeguarding and regulatory reporting, so FD Capital finds an interim FD. A financial controller to run the month-end comes through Accountancy Capital. And as the board is strengthened ahead of the application, NED Capital finds an independent non-executive with payments and risk experience.

Each appointment is run by a practice that specialises in it, but the client has one point of contact and a single, consistent approach to assessing candidates.

Questions We’re Often Asked

Are the practices separate companies?

Each practice operates as its own specialist brand with its own website, but all are part of The Capital Recruitment Group and led by the same founder.

Which practice should I contact?

Contact the practice closest to the role you’re hiring for. If you’re not sure, or need several appointments, contact any of them and we’ll make sure the right team handles each role.

Do you work outside financial services?

Yes. FD Capital, Exec Capital, NED Capital and Accountancy Capital work across sectors. SMF Capital focuses specifically on FCA and PRA-regulated firms.

Can candidates register with more than one practice?

There’s no need. Registering with one practice means you can be considered for relevant roles across the group, with your permission.

Responsible Business

As the group grows, we want it to grow responsibly. SMF Capital is accredited by the Good Business Charter, and across the group we support good causes, including tree planting and charities that help people into work and support children affected by war. We’ll share more about that work here over the coming months.

Looking Ahead

Regulated financial services is changing quickly. Reforms to the Senior Managers regime, the Consumer Duty, operational resilience and the new crypto-asset regime are all raising demand for experienced Senior Managers, and for the finance and board talent around them. With five specialist practices, The Capital Recruitment Group can now support regulated firms at every level, from the finance team to the board.

Over the next year, we expect the group’s regulated work to grow fastest in payments, crypto-assets and wealth management, where new rules and rapid growth are creating demand for experienced Senior Managers. Whether you’re hiring or looking for your next role, you can contact any of our practices directly through their websites. I’ll be sharing more news from across the group on this blog.