How long do PCF holders stay? Tenure by PCF role in Ireland
Heads of Compliance and CROs leave their roles more than twice as fast as CEOs. That is the clearest finding from Nexus Search's analysis of PCF careers across its network, and it holds whether the firm is an EMI, a bank or an insurer.
Tenure by PCF role
More than half the PCF roles in the data are still in progress. A simple average of finished roles would understate tenure, so the analysis uses survival estimates, which count people still in post.
PCF role | Median tenure | Left within 2 years |
Head of Compliance (PCF-12) | 3.6 years | 30% |
CRO (PCF-14) | 3.4 years | 27% |
Head of Finance (PCF-11) | 5.0 years | 25% |
CEO (PCF-8) | 6.0 years | 15% |
Head of AML/CTF (PCF-52) | 6.5 years | 18% |
NED/INED (PCF-2) | 6.8 years | 3% |
The Head of AML figure will settle over time. PCF-52 only came in from April 2022, so most appointments are recent.
Year three is the point to plan for
For compliance and risk heads, the share leaving each year rises from 12% in year one to 16% in year two and 20% in year three, then falls back to about 10%. Around 44% have moved on by the end of year three. Executive PCFs look different. Only 4% leave in year one, and there is no year-three peak.
That makes year two the sensible time to look at succession for control function heads. It is also when a conversation with the person in the seat is most useful.
It is the role, not the type of firm
On the raw numbers, EMIs look like the place PCFs leave fastest. Median PCF tenure is 3.6 years at EMIs against 5.8 at banks and 6.5 to 6.7 at PIs and funds firms.
Most of that gap comes from two things. EMIs employ a higher share of compliance and risk heads, and most were only authorised from 2019. When the analysis looks at role type, sector, start year and interim status together, being at an EMI or PI has no measurable effect on how quickly people leave. Being a Head of Compliance or CRO does. Both leave about two and a half times faster than CEOs.
Two beliefs the data does not support
Combined roles, such as Head of Compliance and Head of AML in one job, are often said to burn people out. In the data they lasted as long as single roles, or longer. And PCF roles are not stickier than other senior jobs. The same people stayed about as long in their PCF roles as in their non-PCF roles (2.8 and 2.6 years).
About the data
Career histories across the entire Nexus Search network, data to February 2026. One network, not every PCF holder in Ireland. The full method is in the report.
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