A report on London's financial jobs market has cast doubt on whether there has been a mass exodus of talent from the capital for other locations, as has been feared.

UK recruitment consultancy Morgan McKinley is asking the question “what exodus?” in light of the findings of its latest City jobs survey, which notes that 80 per cent of financial services professionals have not had, or have turned down, the opportunity to move abroad for work.

The research surveyed 560 financial services professionals to investigate how many had sought or been offered the opportunity to move abroad for their careers in the past two years.

The report, while it did not specify exactly what types of job were involved, may prove reassuring to policymakers who have been warned that rising regulatory and tax burdens in the UK will drive bankers and investors from the UK to locations such as Singapore and Switzerland. Recently, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government moved to clarify rules on non-domiciled residents to end uncertainty; it has also pledged to eventually scrap the new top rate of income tax of 50 per cent introduced by the previous Labour administration.

Of the 80 per cent figure cited above, 43 per cent said they had not had the opportunity to move abroad, 9 per cent had declined an overseas opportunity and 28 per cent were not willing/able to relocate. The remaining 20 per cent had moved abroad for work in the past two years, with “career progression” being the most popular motivator, followed by “lifestyle choice” and “travel opportunities”.

Some 48 per cent of those surveyed listed "family/partner" as the main reason for not making a transition, followed by "no overseas opportunities with my company" (20 per cent), "the hassle of relocation" (12 per cent) and being "too far away from home" (10 per cent). Reasons listed as ‘other’ (10 per cent) included visa and language concerns, preferences to remain in London and property ties in the UK.

The 43 per cent who had not had the opportunity to move abroad stated that they would however be open to the idea with 23 per cent citing New York as their preferred destination, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore (both 13 per cent), with Dubai and Sydney close behind both with 9 per cent.

In addition, financial services job opportunities in London rose 6 per cent month-on-month in June 2011; compared to the same time last year, there was a 2 per cent decrease in job opportunities across the City in June 2011. There was also a 2 per cent decrease in new job opportunities quarter-on-quarter.

Meanwhile the volume of new professionals entering the financial services jobs market increased by 3 per cent month to month; compared to the same time last year the number of new job seekers rose by 30 per cent.

The average salary for those securing new roles in June 2011 was £52,090 (around $84,053) - a 1 per cent decrease on the previous month.

“Over the past 18 months there has been much speculation about bankers and other financial professionals leaving London ‘in droves’ to pursue career opportunities in Asia and the Middle East. These reports did not corroborate with what we were hearing from our extensive database of City workers, prompting us to undertake a formal ‘Moving Abroad’ survey in June 11,” said Andrew Evans, chief operations officer, Morgan McKinley Financial Services.

“It would also seem that changes to taxation and remuneration structures in the UK have not driven away as many professionals as feared, and the City of London has preserved its reputation as a thriving global financial centre. Most financial institutions did not action their threats of relocating their headquarters outside of London, and several firms that did shift offices are now making moves back to the City in favour of its market conditions and competitive rates,” he said.