Presented without comment, from a report just out from Bernstein Research…

Just three months after being arrested, in March of 2009, Bernie Madoff pleaded guilty to all 11 federal charges, cementing his future behind bars. While the quick conclusion was a clear win for prosecutors, the lack of a trial left a fairly disjointed narrative. How exactly did he pull it off? When did the fraud begin? Who else, if anyone, was involved?

Nearly five years to the day of Madoff’s arrest, some of the pieces are coming together via the trial of five of his former employees who, unlike Madoff, have pleaded not guilty. While the cases are ongoing, a host of eye-opening allegations have already been made. Here are a few of the headliners.

40-year fraud: Star prosecution witness and ex-Madoff finance chief Frank DiPascali, who, we must note, has already pleaded guilty and is testifying against his former colleagues with the hope of leniency, answered two of the key questions surrounding the Madoff conspiracy. DiPascali, 57, said the Ponzi scheme had been going on for “as long as [he] could remember.” DiPascali began working as a researcher for Madoff when he was just 19, so that’s a long time.

They had to have known: As for who knew about the fraud, one of the key questions in the case, DiPascali said it was “virtually impossible” not to know of the fake trading. Unlike real trading, which takes coordination, phone calls and counterparties, Madoff’s investment advisory unit remained quiet and motionless, according to DiPascali. Rather, Madoff’s longtime secretary Annette Bongiorno would be given a small stack of index cards roughly once a month that contained historical stock prices taken from newspapers, according DiPascali. She never even looked at real-time prices, he said.

Dead is bad for business: As DiPascali tells it, Madoff himself was the one who decided how much each client “earned.” But, to remain believable, there need to be peaks and valleys. So in 1995, when a 20-year client died during a peak, Madoff decided the man had too much money in his account. According to DiPascali, Madoff then instructed two employees to create a new fake account from scratch and pile on fake losses to counter the fake gains. The firm saved around $1.5 million.

Cold Off the Presses: Prosecutors allege one story where a few Madoff protégés were in the middle of an audit and needed to quickly cook up a fake document. Rather than handing it right off the printer, they put the document in the refrigerator to cool it off.

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North Pole: In a rather strange back-and-forth, one witness referred to the step-son of operations manager Daniel Bonventre, who also worked at the firm, as a lazy real-life George Costanza from TV’s Seinfeld, only he had a cocaine problem. In a previous trial, Madoff Securities was known as the “North Pole” due to the amount of cocaine that was reportedly consumed there, according to the New York Daily News.

Chubby Cheeks: Exactly how vain was Madoff? In 1992, when the Wall Street Journal ran a story tying Madoff Securities to Avellino & Bienes, an accounting firm that was eventually shut down for fraud, Madoff had one chief concern: the way his ink-dot portrait looked in the paper. “His biggest concern was that the caricature didn’t look like him. ‘It makes my cheeks look too big,’ he said, according to DiPascali.

The friend’s price: Not all clients were treated equally. Beverly Hills money manager Stanley Chais, who helped funnel millions of dollars of other people’s money to Madoff, never lost. Not once. Madoff picked his returns personally.

Winning the lottery twice: Former employee Barry Fleischmann won a $17m lottery jackpot in 2007, a year before the firm went belly up. He asked Madoff if he could invest part of it in the fund, but Madoff demanded the entire sum, according to court testimony. Fleischmann decided against investing, a move that had other employees noting that “he won the lottery twice.”

He was generous, kind of: Bernie Madoff had no policies in place for corporate credit cards, allowing employees to use them to finance trips to Disney World and purchase thousands of dollars of wine. Expenses were reportedly never turned down. And when a former employee needed a home loan but didn’t have the collateral, Madoff reportedly told him to see office aide Joann Crupi and “tell her what you need.” She allegedly cooked up a fake statement that said he had more than $6 million in one of his Madoff Securities account, even though it was in the red.

Hush money: But not all was quiet on the home front. Prosecutors have alleged that two of the defendants in the trial – computer programmers Jerome O’Hara and George Perez –demanded and received hush money after finding out about the fraud, but did nothing to stop it.

Hemingway hung out in Paris catching fish in the Seine. Orwell hung out in Paris working as a dishwasher. Auster have lived in Paris before he became famous. But if you’re an M&A banker in Paris, your life won’t be simple and artistic: you may well be worked like a dog.

“If you work in M&A in Paris, they will kill you,” says one French former junior M&A banker who’s left the industry to do something more relaxing instead. “It’s a small market and local banks like Rothschild, Lazard and BNP Paribas are all fighting for their share. You will do 30 hours work in two days.”

Stephane Rambossen, a former M&A banker at Schroders in Paris turned head of search firm Veni Partners, says this is absolutely true: “You work much harder in Paris than London in M&A. France is the most competitive M&A market in the world – when I was there we worked until 12 every night and at least one all-nighter.”

Figures from research provider Dealogic offer some insight into why the French M&A scene is so nightmarish for those involved. French targeted M&A has fallen nearly 50% since 2007 and although it’s up nearly 100% this year, it’s still down on 2011.

However, the real issue according to one French M&A banker is the sheer number of banks fighting over what is fundamentally a small market. French firms like BNP Paribas, Lazard, Rothschild are all jostling for space alongside big American players like Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and – most recently, Moelis. The same banks are present in the UK, but while the UK M&A market was worth $328m so far this year, French targeted M&A was just $154m.

To make matters worse, the culture in French banks is said to be extremely hierarchical, with overworked young M&A bankers deprived of contact with senior staff. “When you’re at a French bank in Paris, the managing directors won’t talk to anyone below vice president level,” said one ex-analyst.

“It’s absolutely true – French banks are incredibly hierarchical,” said another French M&A banker. “At the US houses a lot of people have worked in London and New York and it’s a lot more inclusive. Well-educated French people also have a bad tendency to work very long hours even when there’s nothing to do,” he added.

We asked BNP Paribas, Lazard and Rothschild for comment. Lazard declined and Rothschild and BNP were unable to immediately respond.

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If you’re looking for a banking role in Hong Kong or Singapore, don’t expect a huge uptick in the job market next year.

Headhunters in the Asian financial hubs tell us they aren’t expecting a bumper 2014, while a new survey by recruiters Astbury Marsden points to falling candidate confidence in Singapore.

But there are some banking roles in Asia that will be genuinely in demand in 2014 – here’s our pick of the region’s most sought-after jobs, where candidates can expect pay rises of 15% or more.

1) IPO execution

Attention unemployed i-bankers: IPO execution roles will be hot in Hong Kong next year, according to Marlene Chan, a senior consultant at headhunters Capital People. “The expectation of the IPO market is positive for 2014 and hiring will become more aggressive because many banks will face a shortage of staff in ECM due to massive layoffs in 2012 and 2013. People who speak native Mandarin will be especially in demand and will get the highest pay rises,” she added. Another headhunter said Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and HSBC will be hiring in ECM in Hong Kong, as will the Chinese banks.

2) DCM origination

Senior client-facing origination bankers in capital markets will command some of the highest pay increases in Asia next year, especially in DCM, which has enjoyed a buoyant 2013 in the region. “Most rainmakers can expect a sizeable increment of between 15% and 25% to lure them away from their existing employers,” said Emma Charnock, regional managing director at recruiters PSD in Hong Kong. “Multilingual bankers with an extensive grassroots-level grid of client contacts and an excellent track record of originating and closing business deals will be most sought after.”

3) Banking-IT roles in derivatives

“I expect banking-tech jobs in derivatives to pick up in 2014,” said Vince Natteri, a director at IT recruiters Pinpoint Asia in Hong Kong. “A lot of our global-banking clients have been doing well in derivatives and there will be more vacancies involving the building and enhancement of derivatives trading systems both from an order-management and regulatory systems standpoint,” he said. Local candidates with strong communication skills in English and knowledge of derivatives will be in demand and can expect average pay increases of 10% to 15%.

4) Credit risk

Banks in Asia want credit-risk professionals to help them with stress-test and other risk-mitigation work. Candidates with expertise in model development, model validation and risk analytics are particularly in demand, while MFE, PhD, CFA and FRM qualifications also go down a treat, according to Candy Choong, principal consultant, risk management, at recruiters Selby Jennings in Singapore. “But the talent pool in these areas is limited in Singapore; candidates who are moving to a similar role can expect a pay-increment range of 10% to 20%,” she added. “In 2014, it’s crucial for banks to train young talents in credit risk, otherwise they will find themselves fighting over one good candidate.”

5) Structured finance

The demand for project-finance and structured-finance bankers is rising, fueled by the need to expand infrastructure investment in Asian economies to cater for the needs of a growing population. “But typically the candidates circle is small and banks have to pay a premium to recruit: 18% to 25% increases,” said Angela Kuek, director of search firm The Meyer Consulting Group in Singapore. Recruitment isn’t dominated by the bulge bracket, but by banks who have both a deep-seated and near-term focused growth strategy in Asia. In other words: Singaporean banks, Japanese banks and Australian banks.

6) Vendor client services

Operations jobs are rapidly disappearing as banks in Singapore or Hong Kong offshore to lower-cost locations or outsource to third-party vendors like Euroclear and Clearstream. If you work in the back office, you should consider applying to a vendor. “They need candidates across all areas of operations, but particularly settlements, corporate actions and client servicing. In Hong Kong, candidates need to be fluent in English and/or Cantonese, plus at least one of Mandarin, Korean, Thai or Hindi,” said Hong Kong-based Fraser Douglas, a managing consultant at recruiters Links International. “Vendors originally targeted banks in Hong Kong and Singapore, but as the industry matures, they are now focusing on countries including mainland China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and India.”

7) Trade finance compliance

Compliance professionals of all ilks will (still) be in demand in 2014, but if you want to be considered super sought-after you must possess trade-finance experience. “Ideally you should also have a legal background to assess trade transactions from every angle,” said Farida Charania, chief executive officer, banking and finance, at search firm Nastrac Group in Singapore. “There is definitely a shortage of talent in this area as a lot of legal practitioners do not feel comfortable moving to industry. Good candidates can easily command a rise of 20% upwards.”

8) Private bankers

The scorching hotness of private bankers in Asia is apparent in the pay rises they are expected to receive if they change employers next year. “For high-performing candidates, we will see banks offering more than 25%. Clients will only move with the banker if they have a strong relationship and the new bank is offering a better platform. Therefore the risk-reward of moving has to be attractive to the banker,” said Rahul Sen, a former private banker who’s now a director at search firm Sheffield Haworth in Singapore. “They may not move for a ‘mere’ 15% to 20% as they will need to reinvent the wheel again in their new bank.”

9) Client on-boarding

New regulations, from FATCA to Dodd Frank, triggered a surge in client on-boarding roles in Asia during the final quarter of 2013. Banks will need more of these professionals next year, according to Hans Li, senior consultant, banking and financial services, at recruiters Ambition. “Many project teams are being set up to cope with the high volume in ongoing account reviews, with emphasis on the quality data required by regulators,” he added. “Given the demand, there will be a shortage of candidates, with banks trying to attract talent through providing personal development, exposure to key regulations, and salary increments of 10% to 15%.”

Most banks have made a few redundancies in recent years. Compared to Russian bank Renaissance Capital, however, they have merely been tinkering around the edges. As Euromoney pointed out yesterday, RenCap has laid off 50% of its staff since early 2012 and now employs 550 people compared to 1,200 at its peak nearly two years ago. In total, RenCap now employs only 60 ‘front office investment banking staff,’ of whom half are focused entirely on Russia.

Unsurprisingly, RenCap’s extreme approach to layoffs has worked wonders for profits. The bank says its operating profit in the first nine months of 2013 was a, “major achievement.”

Separately, The Evening Standard yesterday reported on the tragic death of Tomas Dusek, a 37 year old father of two who died whilst working for StormHarbour Securities in June 2012. Dusek was one of 14 passengers on a helicopter which crashed into a mountain whilst surveying a river. Dusek’s wife has launched a case against Stormharbour, accusing the company of failing to ensure her husband’s safety and to ensure a safe flight operator was selected.

Meanwhile:

Nomura wants to hire 20 M&A bankers in the US. (Bloomberg)

Hedge funds need at least $300m in assets just to break even, and over $1.5bn in assets to start making decent profits. (FinAlternatives)

It’s 40% cheaper to run a hedge fund in Asia, partly because people there are paid less. (Bloomberg)

Bonuses at Canadian banks are at their lowest level since 2010 this year. (Bloomberg) 

Credit Suisse has moved Howard Chen, its star investment banking analyst, into M&A. (DealBook)

Citigroup is hiring in commodities. (Bloomberg)

ABN AMRO wants to hire commodities staff in Asia. (Bloomberg) 

39-year-old ex-Deutsche Bank in MD in Hong Kong ordered to pay the bank $3.7m after accepting bribes. (Financial Times) 

I love recruitment because a fundamental driver in life for me is to help others. (The Undercover Recruiter)

Nepotism has a proud and prominent place in investment banking: In a business of relationships, you might as well hire people who were born with good relationships. The alternative of developing relationships through financial analyses and golf is slow and error-prone. (Bloomberg)  

People who were observed choosing large coffees, pizzas, and smoothies were rated by others as having higher status. (Quartz)

Getting through the investment banking interview process is notoriously tough, but provided you know your chosen business area, have a good grasp of the markets, understand the firm you’re applying to and, importantly, have a realistic idea of your own strengths and weaknesses, it should – in theory – be relatively formulaic.

All banks ask the same types of questions: competency, motivational, technical, ‘fit’ and brain-teasers. To give you an idea of what to expect, and how to answer them, we’ve asked a panel of experts to give their views on what constitutes an ideal response to real investment banking interview questions. They are:

-Peter Harrison, a former Goldman Sachs executive director turned founder of careers advisors Harrison Careers.

-Mark Hatz, an ex-Goldman Sachs and Perella Weinberg associate, now author of the Investment Banking Interview Preparation Pack.

-An investment banking analyst from the class of 2013, now working at a top institution in London. For reasons of compliance, he’s chosen to remain anonymous.

What do you think you’ll be doing in the first year of the job [investment banking division]?

Question type: Competency

Peter Harrison’s ideal response: “I expect to be doing whatever it takes to make the life of the team easier so we can get on with the business of executing deals for clients and doing pitches to bring in more deals. Some specific things might include:

1. Preparing pitch books.

2. Liaising with lawyers and accountants as they help us perform due diligence work.

3. Research to gather data that will be used to provide advice to clients.

4. Preparing financial models, usually involving Excel and comparable ratio analysis.

5. Figuring out key drivers for each industry.

6. Supporting transaction teams who are executing deals and supporting teams pitching for business.

7. I know you require total attention to detail. You need me to be enthusiastic and full of energy, with a ‘can do’ attitude and be willing to ask for advice. That is exactly what you will get from me.”

What are the implications of expansionary monetary policy, more specifically for the debt capital markets (DCM) – i.e. bond issuance?

Question type: Technical

Investment banking analysts’ ideal response: “This question was asked at an interview for a DCM position and it was particularly aimed at testing the understanding of the market reaction to policies adopted to fend off the financial crisis. Candidates should immediately narrow the field, probably thinking backwards is the trick here, or it’s easy to get lost in the reaction chain of the variables that drive markets. Ideally, you should cover the following:

-Low interest rates from central banks stimulate investors to put their cash to work, instead of leaving it in safe term deposits with banks, which more specifically drives a rush to invest in creditworthy companies as soon as they issue a bond.

-This strong demand has pushed the borrowing cost of firms to the lowest levels in history. The next step has been the ‘search for yield’, as investors started trying not to crowd their demand only on extremely safe and creditworthy companies, but on the so-called high yield (more risky ones).

-This trend ultimately helps companies be able to tap the bond market (not all of them) to achieve funding at extremely low rates, kicking off investments into new products, acquisitions etc. On the other side, it also risks fuelling a bubble, as companies deemed quite risky pay a very low cost for borrowing money, simply thanks to an artificially created investor demand.

It’s worth pointing out that one of the main reasons people receive bad reviews after interviews is because they don’t know how to talk about markets, as this is what ultimately drives every single investment banking product, from trading to M&A.”

What was the last thing you read in in the FT / Wall Street Journal that interested you?

Question type: Motivational/Fit

Mark Hatz’s ideal response:  “If you have already spoken about the firm’s latest transactions or the transactions you have worked on, pick an unusual or amusing story that may attract your interviewer’s interest. Stay professional, but show you can also be interesting or funny. Interviewers are often trying to find people with character, with ability to keep their sense of humour in stressful situations. They will notice you have taken a risk in your reply, and might interpret it as a sign of honesty or maturity. This will cool down the atmosphere and involve your interviewer.

I remember a senior colleague of mine once coming back from the interview room, pushing in his feedback for the application of the analyst candidate he had just met. His main argument was: “He made me laugh. He cracked a few funny jokes. He is not very technical but I think we should give him a chance to get to the next round”. This candidate did not go to the next round as the rest of us found him quite weak technically, but he had won the favour of one of our people just by being amusing. Although I would not recommend you go over the board, you should show here that you can think out of the box and be interesting.”

Why have you decided to apply for this role?

Question type: Motivational

Investment banking analysts’ ideal response: “This question is very common and most likely no candidate will get through the whole interview process for a graduate role without being asked. It can be tricky as everybody tends to apply to a huge number of banks and advisory firms that have similar structures and describe themselves in the same way on their websites – i.e. the independent boutique extremely close and fair to clients, or the bulge bracket firm with global capabilities etc.

With this ‘flat’ information, it’s often difficult not to come up with a standard answer. Candidates should utilise the firms’ own websites only to understand the areas they focus on and the way they structure their graduate programmes, the rest needs to be sourced from articles and specialist websites. Ideally, the answer should be related to specific tangible strengths of the firm, their own unique position in the market, areas of expertise etc. Another good idea might be to try and follow from the press which area of the investment bank the firm is adding headcount and expanding in, so to add a strategic spin to the answer.”

What do you know about our business model? What makes [Goldman Sachs] different from our competitors?

Question type: Fit

Peter Harrison’s ideal response:  “That’s a tough question. I know how investment banks work but I think describing the entire business model of each business within Goldman Sachs could take hours. My perception is that investment banks primarily deal with organisations and people who have money, and help organisations who need money. So our investment and wealth management businesses, and our equities, fixed income, FX and commodities businesses help organisations and individuals invest and manage money. Our investment banking division helps companies, governments and other organisations raise money, generally by selling debt and equity. IBD also helps companies manage growth by buying and selling other companies. This is all very simplistic and I can go into a lot more detail. Should I?

What makes Goldman Sachs different? The world’s financial press devotes millions of column inches to this question every year. I think the people of Goldman are the differentiator. Simply put, you recruit, train and retain the best.”

Do you have any questions?

Question type: Not a type, but one last opportunity to impress and something many fail to capitalise on.

Mark Hatz’s ideal response: “It is best to ask two questions. But if you see it goes well and your interviewer gets involved, go for three or even four. It is a way to tell your interviewer you enjoyed the interview and you do not want the conversation to end, and also highlights your motivation for the job and the industry.

A good strategy can be to ask questions you already know the answer to, so that you can follow up and argue with the interviewer. You also might want to simply ask for his opinion on something you know you can sound bright about.

Questions to avoid are those about financial compensation and anything that you could have found by yourself (like ‘how is the team organised?’).

Here’s an example if you were interviewing at a boutique investment bank: ‘My first question has to do with the boutique model. I am trying to understand why boutique investment banks are more successful than bulge bracket banks in recession times. Is it simply because when you are a Morgan Stanley and you weigh 30% of the market, whenever the market goes down, you would go down with it, whereas boutiques with a 2% market share cannot feel the hit? Or is there something else?

Another question if I may: a lot of boutique investment banks get into asset management on the side of financial advisory to compensate for the unpredictability of large deals. Is it a strategy that could interest you in the future, opening an asset management arm?

Back to my internship and more on the attitude side now, I know I have already given you my opinion on this, but I would find very interesting to hear yours: what do you think are the top three qualities for an intern to be successful at Alpha Partners?

One last question, if you think we still have time. Very simple. Do you make offers at the end of internships?’”

We realise there are no brain-teasers here, and this is largely because banks tend to vary these each year, and are designed to test candidates’ reasoning and logical skills. Recently, according to Glassdoor, JPMorgan was rumoured to ask how many street lights there were in Manhattan, while Morgan Stanley wanted to know how much annual revenue the Starbucks in Time Square made. There are no shortages of examples on eFinancialCareers – you can find them here.

2013 n’a pas été l’année de la reprise claire et franche espérée pour le marché de l’emploi en finance parisien. À quelle sauce les candidats en finance seront-ils mangés en 2014 ?

Anne-Sophie Luçon, Manager Executif Senior de la division Banque et Assurance pour le cabinet Michael Page à Paris a accepté de se jeter à l’eau en acceptant ce délicat exercice de prospective. De l’emploi aux rémunérations et prochains bonus, en passant par les bonnes stratégies de recherche d’emploi à adopter, voici quelques indications utiles pour démarrer 2014 dans les starting blocks.  

Quelle est votre vision du marché de l’emploi en finance en France en 2014 ?

Nous espérons que 2014 ne sera pas une « année blanche » comme 2012 et 2013 ! Et nous avons quelques raisons de le croire. D’abord, depuis septembre, nos clients de la finance nous sollicitent davantage. Ensuite, sur cette fin d’année, nous avons travaillé sur des créations de postes, qui répondent à des ambitions nouvelles de conquête de marché. Nous n’avions pas vu ce type d’investissements depuis longtemps. On devine ainsi un rééquilibrage progressif qui va continuer de s’opérer en faveur des offres d’emploi liées à des développements (front-office) plutôt qu’à des simples remplacements ou des postes répondant purement à des exigences réglementaires (fonctions support). Ces dernières offres devraient, malgré tout, probablement encore dominer le marché de l’emploi en finance l’an prochain. Parallèlement, beaucoup d’observateurs évoquent les besoins liés aux départs en retraite en France en Banque / Assurance, qui atteindraient un pic au cours des deux prochaines années. Je ne crois pas que cela créera un véritable appel d’air. Ces départs vont néanmoins permettre de limiter la casse sociale dans de nombreuses structures.

Est-ce que les candidats en finance verront la lumière au bout du tunnel en 2014 ?

Il faut être prudent. La reprise se fera d’abord sous réserve d’un retour à la croissance française et européenne. Rappelons tout de même que le marché parisien a été divisé par deux ou par trois en termes de volume d’offres d’emplois depuis le début de la crise. Des équipes ont tout simplement disparu ou ont été reconstituées ailleurs, à Londres, New York, à Luxembourg, ou encore en Suisse. Au sein de notre cabinet, le nombre de consultants couvrant le secteur bancaire a été divisé par deux depuis 2008. Et à Paris, c’est partout pareil. C’est dire le choc que le secteur a subi. Aussi il va nous falloir nous armer encore de patience pour définitivement tourner la page. Deux tendances positives sont néanmoins clairement encourageantes : 1- le nombre de postes gérés par nos consultants a augmenté ces quatre derniers mois et 2- les candidats se « professionnalisent » dans leur recherche.

Pouvez-vous nous en dire plus sur cette « professionnalisation » des candidats ?

Notre dernière étude Banking and Financial Services 2013 montre que les candidats en finance sont aujourd’hui totalement multi-supports (cabinets de recrutement, site de recrutement en ligne, réseaux sociaux…). Cette recherche tous azimuts leur permet d’être beaucoup plus alertes sur ce tout qui se passe sur le marché de l’emploi. Ils sont beaucoup plus acteurs dans leur recherche, ils mobilisent également leurs réseaux de plus en plus efficacement. La cooptation a été l’élément déclencheur de nombreuses mobilités, dès cet été. Ces mouvements ont ainsi permis de rabattre les cartes et de provoquer une inflexion de marché.  Les candidats se montrent enfin davantage objectifs sur les opportunités qui peuvent leur être proposées. Le nom de l’établissement compte toujours évidement, mais les projets, la carrière et l’environnement proposés président davantage à leur choix de mobilité.

Est-ce que 2014 réservera de bonnes surprises en matière de rémunérations et notamment de bonus ?

Les établissements ne nous ont pas encore fait part de leurs arbitrages. D’importantes réflexions sont encore menées sur ces sujets au vu de la prochaine contrainte réglementaire européenne de plafonnement des bonus. Un rééquilibrage au profit des salaires fixes serait logique mais dans quelle proportion ? C’est délicat à ce stade de lancer des paris lorsque l’on sait par exemple que les transferts d’équipes à l’étranger peuvent être, en partie, motivés par des considérations d’ordre salariale et fiscale. Sur la question des prochains bonus, il me semble d’abord que les professionnels éligibles à un bonus devraient l’obtenir. Ce qui rappelons-le n’était pas une évidence l’an passé où la pratique du bonus zéro a pu être observée. Au final, les équipes ont été réduites et les résultats 2013 ont été dans l’ensemble tout à fait corrects pour les banques y compris françaises. Aussi, les candidats sont relativement confiants et il me semble  légitime qu’ils s’attendent à des bonus en moyenne en légère hausse par rapport à ceux de l’an passé. En revanche, les surprises ne sont pas exclues compte tenu du fait que les bonus sont de plus en plus différenciés, répondant ainsi à une logique croissante d’individualisation.

Revenons à l’emploi, vous prédisez une reprise « progressive » des embauches. Quels en seront les principaux acteurs ?

Soyons clair, les BFI françaises ne recrutent pas en front-office en France. Elles doivent gérer en priorité les plans d’adaptations en cours, les mobilités internes et, pour certaines, de nouvelles suppressions de postes annoncés en 2013. Des besoins ciblés demeurent néanmoins sur des fonctions support (comptabilité, IT, contrôle de gestion, et dans une moindre mesure risques et compliance).

À Paris, nous travaillons surtout désormais principalement avec des nouvelles structures, des sociétés de taille moyenne et surtout des filiales et succursales d’établissements étrangers, qui représentent aujourd’hui 70% de nos clients en finance. Je pense en particulier à des banques européennes, mais aussi aux établissements des régions Moyen-orient et Afrique (notamment marocains et tunisiens), où l’on cherche à développer notamment les fonctions commerciales à Paris.

Plus largement, il y a un regain d’intérêt pour les métiers du cash management, du trade finance, des garanties internationales, du crédit documentaire… L’assurance reste un secteur dynamique et continuera de rechercher principalement des profils liés aux risques et des experts en modélisation. Le secteur connaît un pic d’activité sur les aspects réglementaires, ce qui renforce des besoins, déjà largement comblés dans le secteur bancaire. Sur l’ensemble de ces métiers, on remarque des transferts plus nombreux de la banque vers l’assurance. C’est encore le cas pour les métiers liés à l’organisation (chefs de projets) où les acteurs de l’assurance se montrent très ouverts sur les profils bancaires.

Quels conseils donneriez-vous aux candidats pour bien entamer 2014 ?

Attention à ne pas vous disperser. Vous savez lorsqu’un processus de recrutement débute, jamais quand il finit (en tout cas rarement avant 3 à 6 mois). Les candidats sont aujourd’hui très investis dans leur recherche, et c’est tant mieux mais un candidat qui est partout à la fois n’est pas efficace et se décrédibilise. D’où l’importance d’être bien accompagné. Il se trouve que notre profession aussi s’est beaucoup seniorisée ces dernières années, grâce à une dimension conseil renforcée. Selon moi, deux consultants partenaires de différents cabinets suffisent, mais soyez exigeant dans votre choix. De même, il est contre-productif de travailler sur plus de deux ou trois pistes en même temps.

Falls Sie in den Finanzdienstleistungen arbeiten, dann spielt Höflichkeit eine große Rolle. Allerdings kann man es auch übertreiben – besonders wenn Sie der Vorgesetzte von Frauen sind.

Männer verhalten sich gegenüber Frauen instinktiv höflicher als gegenüber Männern. Eine Reihe von Rechtsstreitigkeiten in den Finanzdienstleistungen haben die Angelegenheit nur noch schlimmer gemacht – und nicht etwa besser. Wenn Frauen von Männern kritisiert werden, empfinden sie die Kritik als schlimmer als Männer, die meist wesentlich offener miteinander umgehen.

Wenn wir davon ausgehen, dass Frauen ebenso kompetent wie Männer sind, dann müssen sie ebenso häufig für ihre Fehler gerügt werden. Das muss nicht gleich aufs Anschreien hinauslaufen. Vielmehr geht es darum, ein hilfreiches Feedback zu geben. Doch wie die Dinge nun einmal laufen, verhalten sich Männer gegenüber ihren Kolleginnen als zu höflich, womit sie jungen Bankerinnen wichtiges Feedback vorenthalten.

So wurde ich selbst einmal gefragt: „Dominic, würdest Du nicht glücklicher sein, wenn Du etwas machst, das Dir liegt?“ Dies half mir dabei, meine Arbeit neu auszurichten und die Neuausrichtung ersparte mir eine Menge schmerzlicher Fehler.

Die Abneigung männlicher Banker, ihre Kolleginnen auf die gleiche Weise zu kritisieren wie ihre männlichen Kollegen, kann somit zu ganz eigenen Problemen führen. Die Kritik staut sich an, bis sie sich explosionsartig entlädt. Auch kann sich eine Frau (oder ihr Anwalt) erst beschweren, wenn sie durch einen schlechten Bonus oder sogar eine Kündigung erfahren hat, dass ihre Arbeit nicht in Ordnung war.

Ja, ich schreibe dies als Mann. Ich sage nur, was sich viele Männer nicht öffentlich zu sagen trauen.

Um Karriere zu machen, ist es erforderlich, in seinem Job besser zu werden. Und vor allem muss man auf eine Art und Weise besser werden, dass es der Vorgesetzte auch erkennt. Niemand kann wirklich erkennen, was „gut“ heißt, wenn er keinerlei Feedback erhält. Aber ein Großteil von Kritik fällt naturgemäß negativ aus.

Falls Sie also selbst eine Frau sind und in den Finanzdienstleistungen arbeiten, dann müssen Sie Ihrem Vorgesetzten auch signalisieren, dass Sie kritikfähig sind und nicht gleich beleidigt sind. Denn Ihr Vorgesetzter will sicherlich nicht die Personalabteilung auf seinen Hacken haben und versucht schon seit Ewigkeiten Frauen wie Damen zu behandeln. Er ist auf Ihre Hilfe angewiesen.

Dominic Connor arbeitet als Headhunter für Quants und alle Leute, die Mathematik in den Finanzdienstleistungen missbrauchen. Er lehrt auch die Programmiersprache C++.

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Haben Frauen im Investmentbankbanking überhaupt Karrierechancen?

Die neun verheerendsten Fehler in Vorstellungsgesprächen

Fettnäpfchen voraus: Die verbreitetsten Fehler in Schweizer Vorstellungsgesprächen

Hedge funds, despite increasing accusations of underperformance, equal glamour and riches for those working in financial services. Countless examples of investment banking traders switching from a salary and bonus to reaping millions in profits at their own hedge fund means they’ve always held a certain allure.

However, if you want don’t want the risk associated with running your own fund and just want the promise of a meaty bonus at a hedge fund, you’ll need to go for one of the behemoths. As the chart below from Citi’s prime finance division in a report released yesterday shows, headcount in hedge funds is tiny until they reach $10bn in AUM.

Again, working for a big hedge fund seems like a better bet in terms of career opportunities and earning potential. Once a hedge fund breaks the $10bn AUM threshold (the firms surveyed had an average of $36.4bn), there’s a 189% increase in investment headcount, each person managing an average of $266m.

Not surprisingly, it’s some of the larger hedge funds – Bluecrest and Millennium, for example – that have been indulging in the most hiring this year.

By contrast, a hedge fund that has $10bn in AUM, relies more heavily on support staff, as firms suddenly have to hire more operations and technology employees. What’s more, it’s not a great place to be for profitability – people working in $5bn hedge funds bring in an average of $628k in profits, while those in the giants earn $1.4m each. However, those working in hedge funds managing $10bn make an average of $742k – not a huge rise in profits considering the increase costs as the fund grows.

Citi’s conclusion is that any hedge fund wanting to break even needs to have at least $300m in AUM, as marketing and compliance costs, together with a lack of fee income, makes it uneconomical to run a small fund. From an employment perspective, though, stick with the big boys.

You’ve uploaded your CV to our resume database. You’ve applied to more jobs than you can remember. You’ve stood outside London’s Liverpool station wearing a sandwich board advertising your skills. You’ve taken out an advertising hoarding specifying your availability. Nothing’s worked. No one has bitten. You are as attractive to a recruiter as a sausage to a vegan.

What’s going wrong?

It’s possible that your CV contains the wrong words. Although job seekers almost always outnumber available jobs, there are some words denoting particular skills which recruiters struggle to match to jobs in the current market.

We’re not suggesting that you drop these words into your resume if you don’t actually have those skills. But if you want to increase your strike rate you might want to try to develop these shortage skills. Alternatively, if you already have these skills you might want to arbitrage between regions and sell them where they’re most in demand.

Based upon an analysis of the jobs currently advertised on eFinancialCareers globally, and the CVs in our own CV database, these are the words and phrases which are particularly sought-after by recruiters now. In each case, we’ve compared the number job advertisements containing each word or phrase with the number of CVs specifying that same skill.

As you can see, there are huge discrepancies between skills and regions. Interestingly, the Asia Pacific region looks a little over-broked.

In-demand finance skills, globally and by region

1. ‘Regulatory change’

‘Regulatory change’ is the hottest phrase you can put on your resume now. There’s a big shortage of regulatory change expertise globally, but it’s most acute in North America. Regulatory change expertise is self-explanatory – it means you can help banks adapt their businesses to cope with new regulations.

Regulatory change resumes per regulatory change job globally: 1.8

Regulatory change resumes per regulatory change job in Asia Pacific (APAC): 1.3

Regulatory change resumes per regulatory change job in North America: 1.1.

Regulatory change resumes per regulatory change job in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA): 2.2

2. ‘Compliance advisory’

‘Compliance advisory’ is the second hottest phrase to drop into your resume. Compliance advisory professionals are more than mere monitoring drones who check that banks adhere to rules – they’re consultants who work with (for example) salespeople and traders to develop new products that match changing regulations. They’re particularly in demand in EMEA.

Compliance advisory resumes per compliance advisory job globally: 2.5

Compliance advisory resumes per compliance advisory job in APAC: 2.5

Compliance advisory resumes per compliance advisory job in North America: 4.7

Compliance advisory resumes per compliance advisory job in EMEA: 2.2

3. ‘Model validation’

‘Model validation’ is also a good skill to have on your CV. It’s especially helpful if you’re looking for a job in EMEA or North America, but there’s a glut of model validators in APAC. Model validators are often quants who verify banks’ derivatives pricing and internal risk models to ensure they’re working as they should.

Model validation resumes per model validation job globally: 8.1

Model validation resumes per model validation job in APAC: 22.2

Model validation resumes per model validation job in North America: 5.5

Model validation resumes per model validation job in EMEA: 7.5

4. ‘Collateral’ (in North America only) 

‘Collateral’ can apply to anything from collateral management to collateral transformation, or simple ‘collateral operations’ jobs. Collateral is becoming a far more important focus for investment banks. Trading is being forced through centralised clearing houses which are very fussy about the kinds of collateral they will accept. Our research suggests there’s a healthy number of collateral specialists in APAC and EMEA, but a comparative shortage in North America.

Collateral resumes per collateral job globally: 14.2

Collateral resumes per collateral job in APAC: 19.8

Collateral resumes per collateral job in North America: 8.4.

Collateral resumes per collateral job in EMEA: 18.1

5. ‘Liquidity risk’ (especially in North America and APAC)

Liquidity risk refers to the risk that a bank gets stuck with an investment which is (probably) declining fast in price and can’t be sold. Liquidity risk experts have been sought in EMEA for sometime and the region looks well catered for. However, there’s a comparative shortage of liquidity risk expertise in North America.

Liquidity risk resumes per liquidity risk job globally: 14.7

Liquidity risk resumes per liquidity risk job in APAC: 13.8

Liquidity risk resumes per liquidity risk job in North America: 7.5

Liquidity risk resumes per liquidity risk job in EMEA: 20.8.

6. OTC derivatives (especially in North America and EMEA) 

‘OTC derivatives’ skills can refer to anything from drafting contracts for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transactions to re-engineering the process for OTC derivatives trades so that more of them take place through centralized exchanges. Regulators are pushing for derivatives to become exchange-traded in both North America and EMEA, and this may explain the comparative shortage of staff in these regions. 

OTC derivatives resumes per OTC derivatives job globally: 14.9

OTC derivatives resumes per OTC derivatives job in APAC: 28.8

OTC derivatives resumes per OTC derivatives job in North America: 8.7

OTC derivatives resumes per OTC derivatives job in EMEA: 15.3

7. C# 

‘C#’ is the computer programming language typically used by banks to build trading, pricing and risk systems. Knowledge of C# typically needs to be combined with some knowledge of financial markets and financial products. Whilst there’s a glut of C# resumes in Asia, the skillset seems to be less prolific in the U.S. and – to a lesser extent – EMEA.

C# resumes per C#  job globally: 14.9

C# resumes per C#  job in APAC: 28.9

C# resumes per C#  job in North America: 7.6

C# resumes per C#  job in EMEA: 13.9

Hugh Hendry may be talking the talk and advising everyone to invest in equities as a hedge against quantitative easing, but his hedge fund, Eclectica Asset Management, seems to be shedding staff in London.

A quick look at the Financial Conduct Authority’s register reveals that Eclectica has lost four registered staff this year, which is quite a lot for a fund which only has eight in total.

Among the departures is Espen Baardsen, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Everton footballer who left football and joined Eclectica in 2005. Baarsden, who was also known as ‘Erik the Viking’ due to his Norwegian heritage, was a partner, fund manager and macro analyst at the firm. His current whereabouts are unknown. 

Alternative Investments: Hochbezahlte Jobs für auserwählte Absolventen

Herkömmliche Investments drehen sich um Aktien, Anleihen und Bargeld. Alternative Anlageformen decken ein breiteres Feld ab – beispielsweise Wein, Rohstoffe und Kunst.

In diesem Artikel werden wir uns die Hedgefonds und das sogenannte Private Equity genauer anschauen.

Hedgefondsmanager investieren ebenso in traditionelle wie alternative Anlageklassen und zielen dabei unabhängig von den Marktentwicklungen auf positive Erträge. Sie benutzen dafür eine Vielzahl von Investmentstrategien.

Fonds für Private Equity investieren in Unternehmen, die nicht an den Börsen gelistet sind. Das geschieht häufig über kleinere Unternehmen (Venture-Kapital) oder sogenannte Buyout-Fonds, die größere Summen in etablierte Firmen investieren und Kredite nutzen, um diese Transaktion zu finanzieren.

Marktführer

Die nach verwaltetem Vermögen (Assets Under Management – AUM) fünf größten Hedgefonds sind laut Preqin Hedge Fund Analyst: Bridgewater Associates, Brevan Howard Asset Management, Och-Ziff Capital Management, BlueCrest Capital und Man Investments.

Beim Private Equity sind dies laut Towers Watson: Goldman Sachs Principal Investments, Blackstone Capital Partners, TPG Captial, The Carlyle Group und Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).

Positionen und Laufbahnen

Bei einem Hedgefonds gibt es im Front Office drei Schlüsselbereiche: Analyse, Sales und Marketing sowie Handel. Die Analysten beobachten Unternehmen, Märkte und Finanzprodukte, in die der jeweilige Hedgefonds investiert. Sales und Marketing stehen mit den Investoren in Verbindung und überzeugen sie davon, ihr Geld in den Fonds zu investieren. Die Händler agieren aufgrund der Analysten-Empfehlungen und platzieren Trades.

In einem Private Equity Fonds fangen Sie als Analyst an und suchen nach Investitionschancen. Wenn Sie die Position eines Associate hinter sich gelassen haben, arbeiten sie als Principal, wo Sie entscheiden, ob ein Geschäft sinnvoll ist. Überdies kümmern Sie sich um die rechtlichen Aspekte einer Transaktion. An der Spitze der Laufbahn stehen die sogenannten Originatoren, die üblicherweise Partner der Gesellschaft sind und die Geschäfte an Land ziehen.

Im Investmentbanking wechseln viele Berufseinsteiger nach einigen Jahren ins Private Equity. Die Arbeitszeiten sind dort angenehmer – Mitarbeiter können für gewöhnlich zwischen 19 und 21 Uhr das Büro verlassen – und die Gehaltschancen fallen ebenfalls besser aus.

Welche Kompetenzen gefragt sind

Hedgefonds stellen nur wenige Absolventen direkt von der Uni ein. Doch auch in dieser Branche nimmt die Zahl der Einstiegsprogramme zu. Luke Ellis, President der Man Group sagt, dass das Unternehmen versucht „gefestigte, engagierte und dynamische“ Leute zu finden, die „clever, kreativ und an den Finanzmärkten interessiert sind.“

Um in der Branche der Hedgefonds zu arbeiten, müssen Sie ebenfalls ein gesundes Selbstbewusstsein mitbringen. „Wir erwarten von jedem seine Ideen mit anderen zu teilen, egal auf welcher Stufe der Karriereleiter er steht“, sagt Ellis.

Wenn Sie in Private Equity arbeiten wollen, erwarten die Unternehmen laut Johannes Huth, Chef von KKR Europe, dass Sie über einen „herausragenden Geschäftssinn und ein Gespür für Investitionen, großartige analytische Fähigkeiten und starke interpersonelle Kompetenzen“ verfügen.

Huth fügt an: „Unsere Angestellten müssen in der Lage sein, attraktive Investitionschancen zu erkennen und zu nutzen sowie Beziehungen zu den Management-Teams, externen Beratern und Branchenfachleuten aufbauen zu können.“

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Über die Branche VIII: Fondsmanagement

Über die Branche VII: Investment Banking Operations

Über die Branche VI: Compliance und Risikomanagement

Hiring was sluggish across most sectors in financial services in 2013, with a select few seeing moderate growth. Front office hiring was rather subdued as almost every big bank made concerted efforts to become efficient and return more capital to shareholders (read: get smaller). Back office hiring was stronger but rather sporadic.

Looking forward to 2014, the hiring environment should be kinder. The annual Outlook for Investment Banking Services, published by Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting, found that 71% of financial services firms expect to increase recruitment activity in 2014, up from just 11% in 2013. But where will all the growth occur?

We asked three banking recruiters – two based in New York and one in London – to give their views on their recruitment pipeline and their hiring predictions for the coming year. The short of it: the hiring landscape should indeed improve, but expect more growth in the back office than in the front. Investment banks could be primed for a comeback of sorts, though.

Peter Laughter, CEO of Wall Street Services, New York

By all counts, 2014 looks to be a strong year for financial services and many sectors will see an increase in hiring. Globally, conditions continue to improve and corporations are holding significant cash reserves so M&A activity is likely to continue to increase. I see the trend in hiring compliance and risk professionals continuing to increase as well – regulatory changes are far from over and with increased punitive action from regulatory bodies, you can expect banks to continue to shore up their compliance capabilities.

What I find most exciting is banks’ desire to improve operational risk and controls – it is expected that the investigation into Barclays’ role in the Libor scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. Across the board, other failures in internal controls have led to significant loses and fines. As firms look to rectify these failures for the future, demand for seasoned operational risk professionals will significantly outstrip availability and many people will enter this field. Once immediate risk needs are met and demand wanes, these professionals will be repurposed toward process improvement projects designed to streamline middle and back office operations.

The resulting process improvements will eventually drive reductions in staff levels in operations but I am unclear whether that will happen in 2014. Technology spending is expected to marginally increase so there will be little change in that sector.

With unemployment levels hovering around 7% we expect consulting hiring to remain strong throughout 2014. Currently, consultant hiring outpaces direct hires two to one, and employers have become accustomed to using higher level professionals on a consulting basis.

Anne Crowley, managing director at Jay Gaines and Company, New York

The heavy focus on hiring for regulatory-related functions will continue.  This spans a range of functional areas including compliance, audit and risk.  AML expertise is particularly in demand as banks respond to increased scrutiny from regulators in this area.

We have also seen hiring in “regulatory policy” roles that focus on interpreting and responding to new regulation.  These positions bring a technical orientation (e.g. GAAP accounting) vs. legal.

Security, information security and IT risk management are also areas of demand as the banks face ongoing and increasingly sophisticated threats and are under pressure from regulators to demonstrate preparedness and that they are meeting regulatory standards.

There may be increased hiring in program and vendor management to provide oversight of large initiatives that utilize a lot of consultants or sub-contractors to ensure the programs are meeting contract requirements as well as quality and security standards.

An up-and-coming area is mobility solutions, which banks are building as a means of competitive edge with retail and commercial clients.  Banks will be hiring architects and developers to create these solutions and testing professionals to ensure they are bug-free.

And, with the low interest rate environment continuing, banks are intensely focused on expense reduction.  Most large banks are continuing to move back office and support functions out of high-cost metropolitan areas to lower cost domestic centers or overseas.  And, the push for consolidation, automation and outsourcing is continuing.   These efforts will result in ongoing layoffs or movement of personnel at all levels of seniority.

Chris Apostolou, managing director at London-based Arbitrage Search and Selection

The strange thing for Arbitrage in 2013 was lack of seasonality – hiring just continued to grow without restriction quarter-on-quarter [and] the purse strings have been snipped.

From my experience, ironically, few investment firms are forward-looking. Hiring just lags markets, so probably good hiring to come in equities, particularly on the buy-side. I’m generally bullish for the market in 2014, but you’re likely to see more job cuts in falling markets, such as commodities and U.S. bonds.

One large bank client told me “we have been running on a skeleton staff for 3 years, so I can’t wait for the improved budget on Jan 1st”.

Just pray the European bank capital tests are a believable fudge again.

Lloyds TSB has been fined £28m by the UK Financial Conduct Authority for a dubious bonus scheme.

For once, it doesn’t involve investment bankers: Lloyds’ dodgy bonuses applied to sales staff working in Lloyds TSB branches who were busy selling protection products to retail customers.

Nevertheless, the scheme reads like how not to structure a bonus system. Investment banks who are grappling with their own bonus issues may want to take note.

1. There was a massive marginal incentive to exceed sales targets

Lloyds TSB advisers received zero bonuses until they exceeded their sales targets. Once they exceeded their targets, their bonuses very steadily increased and could be quite generous. The graph below shows bonuses paid on a monthly rather than an annual basis. The highest paid advisers received £6k a month.

The result was, predictably, a massive push to exceed the target. At Halifax, which had a similar scheme, some badly behaved advisers were found selling products to friends and family.

2. Lloyds TSB staff were encouraged to obsess about the state of their bonuses 

Lloyds staff were able to access details of their performance compared to their targets on a daily basis, with the predictable result that this became their raison d’être.

They were also provided with information that enabled them to calculate their potential bonuses whenever they fancied.

Advisers’ behaviour became heavily oriented towards bonus maximisation. They could earn £600 for every protection policy sold and £60 for every regular premium investment plan sold. Lloyds’ sales of protection products increased 65% as a result; sales of investment products fell 54%.

3. Lloyds TSB advisors had salaries which ratcheted down – and then stayed down – when they failed to meet their targets – creating a skewed incentive to exceed targets

Lloyds TSB advisors weren’t only in receipt of performance-related bonuses, they also received performance-related salaries.

Salaries were determined by the level of sales an adviser made and the resulting ‘sales tier’ which the adviser fell into. An adviser who reached the sales point of a higher tier over three quarters automatically qualified for a salary increase and promotion to that tier. However, advisers who had the misfortune to drop down a tier were forced to stay at that lower tier for at least nine months, creating considerable incentive to maintain sales come what may.

At Halifax, one advisor found himself at risk of both dropping a salary tier and having to repay a ‘bonus deficit’ of £5k. He promptly sold critical illness cover, life cover and death-expenses cover to both himself and his wife.

4. Advisors were encouraged to think of bonuses in the context of Champagne

Internally, Lloyds TBS’s bonuses were crassly referred to as ‘Champagne’ bonuses. Champagne was popular in the run up to the financial crisis. Since then, British consumers have very quietly switched to fizzy wine.

Do you work in a front office sales, trading or advisory role in an investment bank? Are you well paid? The answer is almost certainly yes if you’re comparing yourself to the average UK pay packet of around £26k, or the average U.S. salary of around $69k.

If you work in banking, however, your comparators are almost certainly other bankers. In this case, you may want to benchmark yourself against the figures below, based upon 4,171 London investment banking pay points amassed by banking salary benchmarking company Emolument. The figures below include base salary plus bonus.

As a banker in your early 20s, you can expect to earn…

• £53k ($87k). This is the average salary and bonus paid to front office bankers in London aged between 22 and 25 according to Emolument

As a banker in your mid-20s, you can expect to earn….

• £87k ($143k) This is the average salary and bonus paid to front office bankers in London aged between 24 and 27 according to Emolument.

As a banker in your late 20s-early 30s, you can expect to earn…

• £159k ($261k) This is the average salary and bonus paid to front office bankers in London aged between 27 and 33 according to Emolument.

As a banker in your mid-to-late 30s, you can expect to earn…

• £272k ($446k). This is the average salary and bonus paid to front office bankers in London aged between 33 and 40 according to Emolument.

As a banker in your 40s, you can expect to earn…

• £599k ($983k) This is the average salary and bonus paid to front office bankers in London aged 40+ according to Emolument.

Das große Investmentbanking-Geschäft findet in London oder New York statt. Selbst die Deutsche Bank steuert ihr Investmentbanking von der britischen Hauptstadt aus. Doch worauf müssen angehende oder berufserfahrene Investmentbanker achten, die zu einem Vorstellungsgespräch in die „City“ oder an die „Wall Street“ eingeladen werden.

Wir haben zwei ehemalige Mitarbeiter von Goldman Sachs und heutige Karriereberater sowie einen frisch eingestellten Investmentbanking-Analysten aus London und New York gefragt, welche Fragen bei Vorstellungsgesprächen in den angelsächsischen Finanzmetropolen gestellt werden und wie eine perfekte Antwort ausfallen könnte.

Zum Ergebnis sei schon einmal so viel verraten: Die Fragen und Antworten dürften sich von einem Vorstellungsgespräch in Frankfurt oder Zürich kaum unterscheiden. Konkret:

Was nehmen Sie sich für das erste Jahr im Job vor?

Fragetyp: Kompetenzfrage

Peter Harrison, früher Executive Director bei Goldman Sachs und heute Karriere-Coach bei Harrison Careers in New York:

Ich wünsche mir alles, was das Leben des Teams erleichtert, damit wir auch weiterhin Geschäfte für die Kunden ausführen und neue Deals einwerben können. Dazu gehört:

-          Pitchbooks (Verkaufsunterlagen) vorbereiten zu können.

-          Gute Zusammenarbeit mit Rechtsanwälten und Accountants, da sie uns bei der Arbeit helfen.

-          Daten zu recherchieren, die für die Beratung von Kunden benötigt werden.

-          Finanzierungsmodelle aufstellen zu können, was normalerweise den Umgang mit Excel und einer Comparable Ratio Analysis erfordert.

-          Die Erfolgskriterien für jede Branche herauszufinden.

-          Die Unterstützung der Teams, die die Transaktionen durchführen und die Neugeschäfte hereinholen.

-          Eine Antwort wie: „Ich weiß, dass Sie ein Auge fürs Detail verlangen. Sie wollen, dass ich begeistert und voller Energie bin, mit einer ‚Macher-Einstellung‘ und dass ich gerne um Rat frage. Genau das werden Sie von mir erhalten.“

Was versteht man unter einer ‚lockeren Geldpolitik’ und was bedeutet dies für Debt Capital Markets (DCM) und die Emission von Anleihen?

Fragetyp: Technisch

Der Londoner Investmentbanking-Analyst:

Diese Frage wurde mir in einem Vorstellungsgespräch für einen Job in DCM gestellt. Damit sollte geprüft werden, ob ich die Auswirkungen der Strategien zur Krisenbekämpfung auf die Märkte verstehe. Die Kandidaten sollten die Frage sofort einschränken und sich auf den historischen Ablauf konzentrieren – andernfalls besteht die Gefahr, dass man sich in all den Variablen verliert, die den Markt bewegen. Eine ideale Antwort könnte folgendermaßen lauten:

-          Die niedrigen Zinsen bringen die Investoren dazu, ihr Geld arbeiten zu lassen, anstatt es sicher auf dem Bankkonto zu horten. Dies führt dazu, dass sie ihr Geld rascher in Anleihen kreditwürdiger Unternehmen investieren.

-          Die daraus resultierende hohe Nachfrage hat die Finanzierungskosten von Unternehmen auf ein historisch niedriges Niveau gedrückt. Als nächstes folgte, dass die Investoren nach höher verzinsten und damit riskanteren Anlagemöglichkeiten suchten und nicht nur wie die Masse in extrem sichere Unternehmensanleihen investierten.

-          Dieser Trend erleichterte es wiederum Unternehmen, an den Anleihemarkt zu sehr niedrigen Zinsen zu gehen. Damit konnten sie in neue Produkte, Akquisitionen etc. investieren. Andererseits wurde so auch eine Risikoblase erzeugt, da Unternehmen durch die künstliche generierte Nachfrage sich zu geringen Kosten Geld für riskante Investitionen beschaffen konnten.

Viele Leute erhalten nach einem Vorstellungsgespräch schlechte Beurteilungen, weil sie es einfach nicht verstehen, über die Märkte zu sprechen. Doch die Märkte haben Auswirkungen auf jede Investmentbanking-Dienstleistung, vom Trading bis hin zu M&A.

Welches war der letzte interessante Artikel, den sie in der Financial Times oder dem Wall Street Journal gelesen haben?

Fragetyp: Motivation und ob man zum Unternehmen passt

Markt Hatz, früher Goldman Sachs und Perella Weinberg beschäftigt, heute Autor des „Banking Interview Preparation Pack“:

Falls Sie bereits über die Transkationen des Unternehmens bzw. über Ihre eigenen Transaktionen gesprochen haben, dann sollte sie eine etwas ausgefallene und amüsante Geschichte auswählen, die das Interesse Ihrer Geschäftspartner auf sich zieht. Bleiben Sie professionell, dennoch sollten Sie zeigen, dass Sie auch einen interessanten und witzigen Gesprächspartner abgeben.

Investmentbanker suchen oft nach Leuten mit Charakter, die auch in stressigen Situationen ihren Humor nicht verlieren. Die Gesprächsteilnehmer werden registrieren, dass Sie ein Risiko auf sich genommen haben und werden es als ein Zeichen für Aufrichtigkeit und Reife werten. Damit lockern Sie auch die Gesprächsatmosphäre.

Ich kann mich an einen Kollegen erinnern, der gerade von einem Interview mit einem Bewerber für eine Analystenstelle zurückkam. Er sagte: „Der Kandidat hat mich zum Lachen gebracht. Er hat einige lustige Bemerkungen gemacht. Er ist fachlich nicht sonderlich beschlagen, aber ich denke, wir sollten ihm eine Chance geben, sich in der nächsten Runde zu beweisen.“ Der Kandidat schaffte es jedoch nicht in die nächste Runde, weil die übrigen Leute seine mangelnden Fachkenntnisse kritisierten. Dennoch hatte er die Sympathie von einem von uns gewonnen, einfach nur indem er amüsant war. Dennoch sollten Sie es nicht übertreiben. Vielmehr sollten Sie zeigen, dass Sie über den Tellerrand hinausschauen können.

Wieso haben Sie sich für diese Stelle beworben?

Frageart: Motivation

Der Londoner Investmentbanking-Analyst:

Diese Frage ist sehr verbreitet und kaum ein Kandidat dürfte in einem Interviewprozess um sie herumkommen. Die Antwort kann indes schwer fallen, da die meisten Leute sich gleich bei vielen Arbeitgebern bewerben und viele Unternehmen sich auf ihren Websites ganz ähnlich präsentieren. So finden sich Formulierungen wie „unabhängige Boutique, kundennah, fair oder Großbank mit globalen Aktivitäten etc.“

Mit solchen Informationen lässt sich diese Standardfrage kaum beantworten. Die Bewerber sollten die Unternehmenswebseiten nur nutzen, um ihre Geschäftsbereiche und die Struktur ihrer Absolventen-Programme zu verstehen. Weitere Informationen müssen journalistischen Artikeln  und Branchenwebsites entnommen werden. Idealerweise sollte die Antwort eine Stärke des Unternehmens erwähnen, ihre Wettbewerbsposition oder ihre Expertise enthalten. Weiter können Sie aus der Presse entnehmen, wo das Unternehmen wächst und Stellen aufbaut. Damit können Sie Ihrer Antwort einen strategischen Dreh verleihen.“

Was wissen Sie von unserem Geschäftsmodell. Wie unterscheiden wir (Goldman Sachs) uns von unseren Mitbewerbern?

Frageart: Ob Sie zum Unternehmen passen.

Peter Harrison, früher Executive Director bei Goldman Sachs und heute Karriere-Coach bei Harrison Careers in New York:

Dies stellt eine schwierige Frage dar. Eine Antwort könnte lauten: „Ich weiß, wie Investmentbanken funktionieren, aber es würde wohl Stunden dauern, das gesamte Geschäftsmodell und jeden Geschäftsbereich von Goldman Sachs zu erläutern. Mein Eindruck ist, dass Investmentbanken hauptsächlich mit Unternehmen und Leuten zu tun haben, die Geld haben und Unternehmen helfen, die Geld brauchen. So helfen das Investment und Wealth Management, das Geschäft mit Aktien, Anleihen, Währungen und Rohstoffen sowohl Unternehmen als auch Menschen, ihr Geld zu investieren und zu managen. Die Investment Banking Division (IBD) hilft Unternehmen, Staaten und anderen Einrichtungen Geld zu beschaffen; normalerweise indem Zinsprodukte und Aktien ausgegeben werden. IBD unterstützt auch Unternehmen bei ihrem Wachstum, indem sie bei Kauf und Verkauf von Unternehmen hilft. Dies ist ein wenig vereinfacht dargestellt. Wenn Sie wollen, kann ich auch weiter ins Detail gehen.

Worin unterscheidet sich Goldman Sachs von seinen Wettbewerbern? Die Finanzpresse rund um den Globus widmet dieser Frage jedes Jahr Millionen von Zeilen. Ich denke, die Mitarbeiter machen den Unterschied aus. Sie stellen einfach die besten Leute ein, bilden sie fort und können sie an sich binden.

Haben Sie irgendwelche Fragen?

Fragetyp: Dies stellt eine Gelegenheit dar, Eindruck zu schinden. Viele lassen diese Chance jedoch ungenutzt.

Mark Hatz, früher Goldman Sachs und Perella Weinberg, heute Autor des „Banking Interview Preparation Pack“:

Am besten stellen Sie zwei Fragen. Wenn Sie jedoch feststellen, dass es gut läuft und Ihre Gesprächspartner darauf anspringen, dann können Sie auch drei oder vier Fragen stellen. Damit signalisieren Sie Ihren Gesprächspartnern, dass Ihnen das Interview gefallen hat und dass Sie nicht auf ein schnelles Ende des Gesprächs hinarbeiten. Dies spricht für Ihre Motivation.

Es kann durchaus Sinn machen, eine Frage zu stellen, deren Antwort Sie bereits kennen. Auf diese Weise können Sie besser mit Ihren Gesprächspartner diskutieren. Sie können auch einfach eine Frage stellen, von der Sie wissen, dass sie gerne beantwortet wird.

Dagegen sollten Sie Fragen vermeiden, die sich um die Bezahlung drehen oder was Sie selbst schnell herausgefunden haben könnten.

Hier nur ein Beispiel, wie eine gelungene Frage bei einer Investmentbanking-Boutique ausfallen könnte: „Meine erste Frage betrifft das Geschäftsmodell von Boutiquen. Wieso kommen Investmentbanking-Boutiquen erfolgreicher als Großbanken durch die Rezession? Liegt das nur an der Unternehmensgröße: Wenn z.B. Morgan Stanley einen Marktanteil von 30 Prozent hat, dann geht das Geschäft notwendigerweise zurück, wenn der Markt einbricht. Dagegen bekommen Boutiquen mit einem Marktanteil von 2 Prozent den Absturz weniger zu spüren. Oder gibt es noch andere Gründe?“

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It’s Christmas, a time for charity and reflection. Or in the case of most investment banks, compiling a list of underperformers to oust in the new year and therefore preserve the bonus pool. But spare a thought for the 36 SAC Advisors London employees who, a month before the holiday season, were cast out on the streets – or at least removed from the FCA register.

SAC’s London office closure was well-covered, but now the vast majority of staff have been laid off and, it appears, none have found new opportunities. The company has gone from 39 front office employees last week, to three now, according to the FCA register. Just Famida Daniels, the in-house counsel, and Michael Ferrucci, who headed up the office, remain.

Some have already seized the opportunity to do some good, with Jonas Schwinn and Thibault Nardin travelling to the Philippines to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

If any benevolent recruiters are looking for hedge fund employees, here’s the full list of ex-SAC staff.

Faycal Abbes: Relocated from SAC in Hong Kong to London in April.

Nicholas Aldrige: Joined from SocGen in September 2010.

Massimo Amati: Joined in December 2012 as a portfolio manager from Millennium

Israa Al Bayaa: Partner and portfolio manager focusing on global utilities and infrastructure since July 2008.

Stanislas de Caumont: Laid off from Credit Suisse December 2011, where he was head of government bond trading. Since July 2012, he was a partner and portfolio manager on global macro fixed income and FX at SAC.

Rahul Chopra: Joined SAC in June 2012.

Paul Selvey-Clinton: Unfortunately enough to be hired by SAC in January this year as an analyst, having worked at Occitan until December.

Michael Dalgleish: Worked at SAC since January 2011, having joined as an analyst. Promoted to portfolio manager in July 2013.

Stephen Dove: Execution trader covering metals and mining since 2005.

Alexandre Larrain: Again, unfortunate enough to have signed up to SAC in the summer – has been an analyst since June with a focus on FX and rates.

Tony Eccles: Partner and portfolio manager with a focus on energy since January 2011.

Hossam Elsokari: Joined in 2009 from UBS. Lehman alumni.

Atallah Estephen: Signed up in April as an analyst focusing on utilities and infrastructure from Macquarie.

Amelia Forcina: A former partner at hedge fund Fenician Capital Management, who joined SAC in 2011.

Saiyad Hamid: Switched from private equity firm TA Associates to cover long-short equities at SAC in July of this year. Harvard Alumni, ex-Citigroup.

Robert Harris: Joined from UBS in 2008.

Malte Heininger: Credit analyst who joined from Ashtree Capital in 2010.

Arjun Menon: Partner and portfolio manager focusing on IPO investments and long-short equities. Joined from KKR in 2011.

Thibault Nardin: Joined SAC in April after three years at Morgan Stanley. An equity analyst covering French and Benelux banks.

Liam Pagliaro: Former head of research at Gartmore Partners. Joined SAC in early 2012.

Alexi Papaconstantinou: Joined SAC from Morgan Stanley, where he was an associate, in May 2007. Covered event-driven strategies.

Hernan Perez-Kakabadse: Joined SAC in October 2011.

Alexis Reculard: Joined from BarCap in early 2012, where he was an associate focusing on algorithmic FX trading.

Stephen Salter: VP in EMEA equity finance at SAC, where he’s been since 2006, having joined from GLC.

Jonas Schwinn: A financial institutions analyst who previously spent four years at JPMorgan. Unfortunate enough to join SAC in February 2013. Has the best LinkedIn photo ever.

Bramen Singanayagam: Former in equity research at JPMorgan, but signed up to SAC in April 2011.

Martin Stapleton: Joined SAC this year after three years at Lombard Odier Asset Management.

Marie-Clare Thomas: Joined from GFI in January 2011, as a trader. Previously worked at Citigroup.

Minh Tran: Execution trader at SAC since January 2010 with experience at Atticus Capital.

David Tuthill: Trader focused on the Asian market who has been with SAC since 2008, having joined form Cantor Fitzgerald.

Louis Villa: Portfolio manager at SAC since May 2012, having previously been a partner at Edoma Partners – the hyped up hedge fund start up that closed after two years in November 2012.

Carl Vine: Former head of Asian prop trading UBS. Joined SAC’s Hong Kong office in November 2008, but relocated to London this year.

Dong Xie: Former prop trader at SocGen in Paris, moved to London for SAC role in December last year.

Huseyin Yasar: Former associate at Goldman Sachs, joined SAC as an investment analyst in August 2011 working on the long-short strategy portfolio.

Muhammed Yesilhark: Joined from York Capital in August 2009, where he was a director managing $7.8bn. Portfolio manager at SAC.

Yasin Youssouf: Joined from Algebris Investments in March 2012. Has experience at RBS, Blackrock and Tisbury Capital Management.

Consulting interviews are a different breed. Following a more traditional “experience” interview, candidates are tasked with proving their ability to do the job in question: solving complex business problems through case studies.

Preparing for a case study interview at a top consulting company like Bain takes time, effort and a true understanding of the process. Truth be told, if you treat a case study as if it were a customary interview, you’ll likely fall short. Case studies are designed to be business discussions, not Q&As.

We talked to Keith Bevans, head of Bain’s global consultant recruiting team, to get some insight into how best to prepare for a case study interview and a few key tips on maximizing your opportunity. Like many other consulting firms, Bain is hiring.

Practice make perfect: While there are terrific resources available to help prepare for case study interviews, make sure to supplement your research with live practice sessions, says Bevans. “Reading can help you understand a framework and a potential answer, but the real skill is learning how to verbalize your thought process in a coherent business discussion,” he said. This takes practice.

While at Harvard Business School, Bevans knew a group of first-year students who would meet every Saturday morning for breakfast to conduct one-on-one practice interviews while the others watched. On top of their traditional studying, they spent just 90 minutes once a week working together. All four of ended up with consulting offers for the summer.

While teaming up with other students is helpful, also look to utilize your school’s alumni network and all the resources provided by the institution itself. Most top business schools bring full-time consultants back to campus to help the next generation prepare for the interview process. If you’re an undergrad, walk over to the business school to see how they can help, Bevans said.

Look beyond the frameworks: No doubt, preparing yourself for case study interviews involves understanding certain analytical frameworks that are covered in business school and often applied in the world of consulting, like, for example, fixed versus variable cost models. But don’t just memorize and regurgitate frameworks. Quickly prove that you understand the model and apply it to the situation, then move on with your analysis. Remember, Bevans said, the person across from you has their MBA too. You don’t need to act like you’re teaching them.

“Some struggle to pull up from frameworks and remember it’s a business conversation,” he said.

Ask the right questions early: Case study interviews aren’t static situations; the answers change as the dialogue develops. When presented with a problem, immediately follow with the key questions needed to fully understand the variables that may be at play. Good answers start with great questions.

Limit your inner monologue: Candidates who tend to fare poorly in case study interviews prioritize the answer over the thought process. Firms like Bain certainly take note of your final conclusion and recommendation, but they care just as much, if not more so, about how you got there. Always provide insight into your thinking and all the variables that you are considering, Bevans said.

“If you missed something in the answer and didn’t give me insight into you thinking, I don’t even know if you were considering the right things” he said. “It would be like me asking you to do math problem, and you turn around and say ‘27.’ I want to know how you got there.”

It’s OK – frankly, it’s even recommended – to say that you would move forward based on certain facts but you’re also concerned about variables that you don’t have visibility over, Bevans said. It’s only a 30-minute interview, but firms like Bain want to know you at least considered them.

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But you still need an answer: While the key of acing a consulting interview is to ask questions and promote dialogue, it’s still critical to offer a firm recommendation. Some candidates get so caught up in the analysis that they forget to answer the original question, Bevans said.

While it is fine to offer a recommendation fairly early in the conversation, know the rest of the interview time will likely be spent considering other variables.

Be empathetic: Case study interviews are meant to mirror real-life consulting situations. In fact, every one of Bain’s case studies is based on a project that they’ve already completed. So, it’s important to show a human touch and not treat a situation dispassionately. “We might ask you how you would position a difficult decision to management,” Bevans said. Say you are recommending ending a new store pilot in part of the country. A firm like Bain may ask to see how you would deliver that message.

Keep your butterflies in formation: Another common mistake that candidates make – usually those who are less prepared – is to concentrate so much on the question that they forget “interviewing 101 skills,” according to Bevans.

Having a firm handshake, making eye contact, smiling and looking up from your notes – these are all basic interview rules that still apply, despite the pressure of the moment. “We can’t take the risk that your head will be down while a CEO is speaking with you,” Bevans said. “You may have butterflies in your stomach, but you need them flying in formation.”

Those who fail to follow common interview protocol tend to be those who only study from books and websites rather than taking part in practice interviews, he said.

Take your time: When faced with a follow up question that’s a bit of a curveball, it’s not a bad thing to ask for a short period of time to think things over. You’re always better off taking 10-15 seconds to collect your thoughts rather than stumbling through an answer.

“And know we aren’t out to trick you,” Bevans said. Recruiters and hiring managers will support you and lead you back to center if you’ve gone down the wrong path, he said. Recognizing this can help with the nerves.

Ask industry questions: If you are faced with a case study involving an industry that you don’t know all that well, don’t hide it. Ask all the questions that you need.

When Bevans interviewed at Bain, he had only taken part in technical internships. But during one case study, he was asked to offer a recommendation to an insurance client. “I spent several minutes asking him to explain how premiums worked,” Bevans said. “Bain doesn’t expect you to have a thorough understanding of every industry.”

However, if you are confronted with a case study in an industry in which you have worked, expectations will rise, he said. “If I’m asking you a question about an airline – and I can see you have worked for a competitor – your framework should be more robust.”

Take notes: While eye contact is critical, candidates should write down whatever they need to keep track of the data. “When you are nervous, you may forget half the information you’re given,” Bevans said. “Always leave a breadcrumb trail to get back to framework.”

For more Bain-specific tips, check out the firm’s career advice page. Bain recently added a video with examples of good, better and best answers to real case study questions.

Ausgerechnet in einem Interview auf der eigenen Unternehmenswebsite macht Credit Suisse-Präsident Urs Rohner seinem Ärger ein wenig Luft – allerdings nur auf Englisch. Wir haben die wichtigsten Kritikpunkte an der Schweizer Mentalität, der steigenden Regulierung und dem Swiss Banking zusammengefasst:

Schweizer sind risikoscheu

„Manchmal herrscht ein Mangel an innerer Großzügigkeit, anderen eine zweite Chance zu geben. Dies stellt einen fundamentalen Unterschied zwischen z.B. der Schweiz und den USA dar, wo es als normal betrachtet wird, dass die Menschen einmal scheitern und sich wieder nach oben arbeiten. Es ist dort auch nicht unüblich, die Karriere zu wechseln. Wir verzeihen nicht so leicht und dies bringt die Menschen dazu, sich vor einem Scheitern zu fürchten und wenige Risiken einzugehen.“

Aufsichtsbehörden trauen sich gegenseitig nicht über den Weg

Weiter stört sich Rohner an der wachsenden internationalen Regulierung. „Sind wir ehrlich: Am Ende des Tages trauen sich die Regulierungsbehörden gegenseitig nicht zu, die Krise zu bewältigen. Deswegen verlangen z.B. die US-Behörden, dass bedeutende ausländische Banken ihre dortigen Geschäftstätigkeiten in zwischengeschaltete Holdinggesellschaften bündeln, die in Bezug auf die Eigenkapitalausstattung und das Kreditlimit ihren eigenen Regulierungen unterliegen. Dies stellt einen Versuch dar sicherzustellen, dass die Gesellschaften über genügend Kapital verfügen, falls etwas schieflaufen sollte.“

Schlechte Karten für kleine Privatbanken

Darüber hinaus prognostiziert Rohner den Untergang kleinerer Player auf dem Schweizer Wealth Management-Markt. „Die Kosten für Compliance und IT werden aufgrund der internationalen Regulierung auch weiterhin in den Himmel steigen. Es kann kleineren und mittelgroßen Unternehmen schon sehr schwer fallen, die steigenden Kosten zu kompensieren, was den Konsolidierungsprozess vorantreiben kann. Sie müssen beachten, dass all dies in einem Umfeld passiert, in dem die Geschäftsmargen in den vergangenen fünf Jahren deutlich gesunken sind.“

Automatischer Informationsaustausch wird kommen

Auch der automatische Informationsaustausch stellt für Rohner nur eine Frage der Zeit dar. „Ich möchte nicht über den Zeithorizont spekulieren, aber ich denke, dass irgendeine Form des automatischen Informationsaustauschs zum weltweiten Standard wird. Dies wird die Schweiz letztlich nicht verhindern können.“ Allerdings müssten die Schweizer Banken im Gegenzug einen diskriminierungsfreien Zugang zu den Märkten derjenigen Länder erhalten, mit denen ein solcher Austausch vereinbart werde.

Die Zukunft des Private Banking liegt im Internet

Nicht zuletzt stelle der Trend zur Digitalisierung und zum Online-Geschäft eine große Herausforderung für die Banken dar. „Die Kunden wollen rund um die Uhr weltweit den Zugang zu Marktdaten und ihren Portfolios, ganz gleich wo ihre Anlagen auch gebucht werden. Sie wollen in der Lage sein, ihre Portfolios nach allen Risikoarten zu prüfen“, sagt Rohner weiter. Der Trend zur Digitalisierung stelle für die Banken einen großen Schritt dar.

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