The financial services contract recruitment market has improved over the past few months, but rates are still being crushed by some investment banks who view temporary hires as an easy way to cut costs. However, some roles have no such worries – they’re paying a minimum of £1,000 a day.

So, how can you secure a role that will pay at least £340k a year (assuming a mandatory 25 days a year holiday)? These, according to recruiters, are the jobs you should be wanting to do on a contract basis right now.

1. Solvency II team leaders

Remember those enormous day rates offered to Solvency II specialists by insurance companies, which were suddenly curtailed as the deadline approached? They’re back. According to recruiters, roles offering £1,000-1,200 a day are back on the table, following multiple extensions of the deadline to implement the capital adequacy regulation for European insurers.

“You need to be a project manager leading a team of four to five people to get the top rates,” says Paul Walsh, CEO of actuarial recruiters Acumen Resources.

2. Senior compensation and benefits manager

If you make it to the top of the tree, being drafted in by financial services organisations to deal with their compensation and benefits structure, expect the rewards to be great. These roles pay up to £1,250 a day, according to Robert Walters.

“This is a role in HR that has traditionally commanded a premium because of its technical complexity,” says Peter Milne, director of financial services recruitment at Robert Walters. “Ultimately, the ability to correctly benchmark salaries, bonuses and other benefits is critical to attracting the right quality of professional staff.”

3. Loan workout specialists

Irish banks have been employing specialists to work through and maximise the value of underwater property loans on a contract basis for years, but now hedge funds and private equity firms are getting in on the act in the UK. According to recruiters Interim Partners, which specialises in senior contract roles in the financial sector, senior bankers are being paid up to £2,000 a day to manage and restructure distressed loans being offloaded by the banks.

4. Change management, banking operations

Change management remains a hot area for contractors, but if you really want to bring in the big bucks, it helps to focus on banking operations. In the current climate, this is all about efficiency – offshoring, nearshoring and better processes – but leading a change management programme can be very lucrative. Roles pay up to £1,100 a day, according to Robert Walters.

“If the right person is not available internally, and hiring managers reluctant to increase permanent headcount, a contractor is often the best solution,” says Milne. “In the context of projects costing many millions of pounds to implement, spending a little more to get the right person more than pays for itself.” Particularly if the alternative is to bring in a consultant, he adds.

5. Programme managers, investment banking IT

Banks are still willing to pay their IT staff more, but it’s largely at the senior end. CTOs have seen £20k pay rises over the past year, according to Robert Walters, but salaries are on the up lower down the food chain too. Programme managers across the investment banking business working on a contract role can earn up to £200 more this year than last. The top rate is now £1,200, up from £1,000 a day at this point last year.

“There is a shortage of technology professionals who have both the technical and the commercial skills to bridge the gap between business and technology,” says Milne.  “Rates like this are paid because these people actually ensure businesses save money by delivering multiple projects, on time and in budget.”

6. Interim chief information security officer (CISO)

Data security is a huge issue for the banking sector, which has been subject to hacks and leaks over the past few years. They’ve been hiring, but talent remains scarce, hence the focus on recruiting interim CISOs, according to Martin Rennison, head of investment banking IT at recruiters the JM Group. It’s possible to earn up to £2,000 a day in these roles, he says.

Related articles:

Barclays has rolled out another 10% rate cut for all contractors in the UK and U.S.

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While senior fixed income bankers quit the likes of Morgan Stanley for hedge funds, one bank seems to be building its fixed income business despite the challenging market conditions. That bank is Bank of America Merrill Lynch. 

As reported last week, BAML hired Michele Foresti from Deutsche Bank to head FICC trading for EMEA. Now, Financial News reports that BAML has hired Tom Klocker as head of e-trading for its fixed income currencies and commodities business. Klocker comes from UBS, where he was head of algorithmic trading for fixed income, currencies and commodities.

It’s starting to look like Bank of America is retooling its European FICC business from the top. Can it afford to do so? Costs accounted for 90% of revenues at Bank of America’s Markets business in the fourth quarter of 2013. However, this doesn’t seem to be dissuading the bank from hiring at a time when recruiters say rivals are sitting on their hands and waiting to see how the year develops.

Separately, Bloomberg has unearthed a 26 year-old who owned a selection of the world’s most aspirational vehicles. John Babikian, a 26-year old from Montreal, drove a Bugatti Veyron, a Lamborghini and a Bentley. Predictably, this weren’t achieved through honest work in an investment bank. Babikian ran an illicit penny stock boiler room company, AwesomePennyStocks (in the style of the Wolf of Wall Street, but with newsletters instead of high press telephone sales tactics) which is under investigation by the SEC. Babikian has had his assets frozen. His cars are likely to be sold off cheaply.

Meanwhile:

Citigroup is about to name Leonardo Arduini, most recently head of investor sales for markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as the head of its markets business in the region. (Financial News)

UBS has formed a new unit called Capital and Consulting Services, which just combines its existing Capital Introduction and Business Consulting teams. (WSJ)

Robert Talbut, chief investment officer at Royal London Asset Management and chairman of the Association of British Insurers’ investment committee, has defended Barclays’ bonuses: “Remuneration levels in investment banking are not set in the UK alone but in the US and, therefore, if you wish to be in that industry, you need to match them.” (The Times)

Scott Devitt, Morgan Stanley’s star internet analyst in the US has resigned, seemingly to go somewhere else. (Financial Times) 

Antony Jenkins at Barclays is getting a £4m share payout. That’s not much when you consider that Rich Ricci cashed in £17.6m shortly before he left. (Financial Times) 

SocGen wants to pay bankers bonuses worth double their salaries. (Reuters) 

At the height of the financial crisis, the Chinese received a message from the Russians which was, ‘Hey let’s join together and sell Fannie and Freddie securities on the market.’ (BBC)

Related Links:

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Why B of A is the place to be in fixed income trading. Bob Diamond, the nice man

Mit der Hypo Vereinsbank (HVB) hat die letzte deutsche Großbank ihre Ergebnisse für 2013 präsentiert. Damit ist wieder die Zeit für unser ultimatives Ranking gekommen: Welche Bank hat in 2013 am besten gezahlt und wo waren die Mitarbeiter ihr Geld tatsächlich Wert? Auch dieses Jahr gibt es wieder einige Überraschungen.

Bei der Bezahlung der Mitarbeiter herrscht seit vielen Jahren ein konstantes Bild. Unter den Großbanken zahlt die Deutsche Bank traditionell am besten. In 2013 ließ der Bankenriese für jeden Beschäftigten gut 125.000 Euro springen. Den Löwenanteil davon kassierten die Investmentbanker. Allerdings gibt die Deutsche Bank für ihre einzelnen Geschäftsparten neuerdings keine Gesamtmitarbeiterzahlen an – nur für die Beschäftigung im Front Office. Somit lässt sich nicht mehr ausrechnen, wie hoch die Bezahlung in den einzelnen Sparten ausfällt.

Unter den Großbanken folgen HVB und Commerzbank mit einem Personalaufwand pro Kopf von knapp 95.000 bzw. 72.000 Euro auf den Plätzen zwei und drei. Die DZ Bank liegt mit einem Personalaufwand pro Kopf von rund 52.000 Euro auf dem letzten Platz. Allerdings sind hier auch sämtliche Mitarbeiter der konzerneigenen Tochtergesellschaften wie etwa Versicherungen enthalten.

Wie groß die Gehaltsspannen zwischen den Geschäftsbereichen tatsächlich ausfallen, erlaubt ein Blick in die Bücher der HVB. Nur dort ist es möglich, den durchschnittlichen Personalaufwand einzeln zu berechnen. Demnach ließen die Münchner für jeden Investmentbanker gut 155.000 und für jeden Filialmitarbeiter 84.000 Euro springen. In diesen Daten sind immer auch die Arbeitgeberbeiträge zu den Sozialversicherungen enthalten. Die Zahlen für das Investmentbanking dürften in Wirklichkeit aber deutlich untertrieben sein, da die HVB sämtliche 680 Mitarbeiter des insolventen Windparkbetreibers Bard in ihrem Investmentbanking (!) konsolidiert hat.

Quelle: Geschäftszahlen / eFinancialCareers.de

Doch bei den Vorsteuergewinnen Pro Kopf ergibt sich ein deutlich anderes Bild. Dass jeder Bundesbanker einen Gewinn von 480.000 Euro generierte, spielt nur eine Nebenrolle. Schließlich ist die Zentralbank mit keiner normalen Bank vergleichbar. Sie wurde hier nur der Vollständigkeit halber berücksichtigt.

Dagegen erweist sich das Investmentbanking der HVB wieder einmal als Goldesel. Jeder Beschäftigte – inklusive der Windparkmitarbeiter – war hier rein rechnerisch für einen Vorsteuergewinn von 348.000 Euro verantwortlich. Auch das kriselnde Investmentbanking der Deutschen Bank dürfte mit einem solchen Spitzenwert nicht mithalten.

Kaum zu glauben ist hingegen, wer in der Disziplin Vorsteuergewinn pro Kopf tatsächlich die Goldmedaille unter den deutschen Banken abräumt. Bei der ING Diba generierte jeder Mitarbeiter in 2013 einen Vorsteuergewinn von fast 206.000 Euro, wobei der Personalaufwand mit 79.000 Euro eher bescheiden ausfällt. Somit erweist es sich als Legende, dass man hierzulande im Retailbanking kein Geld verdienen könne. Dies gilt offensichtlich nur für das traditionelle Filialgeschäft.

Traurig sieht es hingegen bei den beiden größten deutschen Banken aus. Ein Vorsteuergewinn pro Kopf von 21.000 Euro dürfte den Ansprüchen der Deutschen Bank kaum genügen. Mit gut 4000 Euro pro Mitarbeiter konnte sich die Commerzbank auch nur knapp in die schwarzen Zahlen retten.

Quelle: Geschäftszahlen / eFinancialCareers.de

Die Angaben zur Aufwands-Ertrags-Quote bei der Deutschen und der Commerzbank sehen mit 82,7 und 73,3 Prozent besser aus als sie tatsächlich sind. Denn beide Institute verbuchen erhebliche Teile von Verlusten außerhalb  ihres operativen Geschäfts. Bei der Deutschen Bank betrifft dies Kosten aus Rechtsstreitigkeiten und bei der Commerzbank die horrenden Verluste der hauseigenen Bad Bank.

Dagegen haben HVB und noch mehr die DZ Bank mit Quoten von 63,7 und 51,5 Prozent ihre Kosten offensichtlich im Griff. Die DZ Bank musste für jeden Euro Ertrag also kaum mehr als 50 Cent ausgeben – ein absoluter Traumwert.

Quelle: Geschäftszahlen / eFinancialCareers.de

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Financial regulators around the world are staffing up – the European Central Bank is adding an additional 1,000 people, the Bank of England is in the midst of a risk recruitment spree and the SEC has unveiled a raft of new hires. In short, demand is high and the supply of people required to fill these roles is short. So, would you move to the Middle East to work for a fledgling financial centre?

According to sources close to the situation, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the new financial freezone currently under construction in the UAE capital, is searching internationally for 100 people to join its regulatory team. It’s not looking locally – we’re told that headhunters are currently scoping out new recruits in London and the U.S.

The move represents the scope of ambition at the ADGM, which is effectively aiming to create a financial centre from scratch that could rival Dubai in the region. UAE officials have previously said that the two financial centres will complement one another, but it’s unlikely that international financial services organisations, particularly those with small operations in the Middle East, will want to duplicate regulatory costs in two locations so close to one another.

Based in Al Maryah, the new financial centre is aiming to attract 30,000 residents and the first of the buildings to be completed is already full occupied. Currently, JPMorgan, Deloitte and General Electric (and supposedly a range of other firms) are already there.

Last month, it hired Jan Bladen as ‘executive advisor and programme lead for ADGM’. He was the former chief operating officer at the Dubai International Financial Centre and will establish ADGM’s regulatory authority, legal infrastructure and registrar – hence the recruitment spree.

Abu Dhabi’s standing as a financial centre has been on the up – it ranked 32^nd in the Global Financial Centres Index by consultancy Z/Yen released this week, up from 42^nd three months ago.

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What really happens behind the scenes in a big US investment bank? We spoke to a director of HR who recently left one leading US bank in the City. He’s still in HR, but not in banking any more. He didn’t reveal any tales of depravity, but he did answer our questions as follows:

You don’t work in banking any more. How does that feel?

Pretty good. I’m pleased to be working in a sector where the value we provide to our customers is tangible and visible. It was becoming increasingly dissatisfying working in an industry which had lost so much trust of its customers and the community at large.

On a scale of 1-10, how much respect does the HR department get in an investment bank? 

I would say on average a 4 or a 5. The other industries I have worked in have tended to see HR have a much closer partnership with the business in helping to design optimal human capital management approaches. HR does tend to have a higher and more impactful profile in other sectors.

How hard do HR people in banks actually work? 

HR people in investment banking get “seduced” into the long hours culture, because the bankers they work for expect it. Considering the huge gap between the bonuses paid to bankers versus HR staff I always thought this was unfair. I tended to work from around 7.30am to 7pm.

What’s the most challenging thing about being an HR director in a bank?

Managing conflict. I had to manage conflicts arising from all the different banking regulations. And then there were the continuous rounds of workforce reductions. We had to let a lot of good people go, which was depressing.

Do bankers listen to what HR people tell them to do?

Managers will invariable try be creative in avoiding the need to following agreed protocols especially if it prevents them from taking shortcuts. However, that’s not specific to banking.

Why are discrimination cases so frequently in investment banks? 

In London, employees started getting more protection against discrimination in the courts from the mid-2000s. That brought often highly publicized discrimination awards which were uncapped. Suddenly, it was more lucrative for people who felt aggrieved to challenge decisions made by the bank – especially if there was a gender or ethnicity aspect backing their claim. Discrimination is no more common in banking than other sectors. It’s just that the stakes are higher.

Is motivation a big issue in banking now?

Everything I hear from former colleagues tells me employee engagement is at pretty low ebb in banking right now.  Lower bonuses are playing a part, but I think the real reason is the impact of the continuous restructuring in the finance sector over the past few years. People have seen good colleagues let go. I also know that budgets previously earmarked for employee well-being, talent development and engagement have been cut or significantly reduced. And then it doesn’t help that bankers are despised by the public at large…  

Related Links:

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Ten things you need to know about banks’ performance in the first quarter, by Morgan Stanley 

Six finance jobs that pay a minimum of £1k a day 

Was geschieht wirklich hinter der Fassade einer US-Investmentbank? Wir haben mit einem Human Resources-Director gesprochen, der kürzlich eine der führenden US-Banken in der Londoner City verlassen hat. Er arbeitet auch weiterhin in HR – aber nicht mehr bei einer Bank. Der HR-Direktor erzählt keine Geschichten von Banker-Fehlverhalten. Allerdings war er bereit, sich den Fragen von eFinancialCareers zu stellen.

Sie arbeiten nicht mehr im Banking. Wie gefällt Ihnen das?

Ganz gut. Ich liebe es in einem Sektor zu arbeiten, wo der Mehrwert, den wir den Verbrauchern bieten, mit Händen zu greifen und sichtbar ist. Es wurde immer unbefriedigender in einer Branche zu arbeiten, die so viel Vertrauen ihrer Kunden und auch der breiteren Öffentlichkeit verspielt hat.

Auf einer Skala von 1 bis 10: Wie viel Respekt wird der Personalabteilung in einer Investmentbank entgegengebracht?

Ich würde sagen durchschnittlich etwa  4 bis 5. In den meisten anderen Branchen, in denen ich gearbeitet habe, gab es eine engere Zusammenarbeit mit HR, wenn es darum ging, einen optimalen Ansatz für das Human Capital Management zu entwickeln. HR hat in anderen Sektoren einen höheren Stellenwert und stärkeren Einfluss.

Wie hart muss die Personalabteilung in Banken arbeiten?

Die HR-Mitarbeiter werden im Investment Banking zu langen Arbeitszeiten „animiert“, weil die Banker, für die sie arbeiten, dies erwarten. Aufgrund der großen Lücke zwischen den Boni, die Banker und HR-Personal erhalten, habe ich dies immer für unfair gehalten. Ich habe üblicherweise zwischen 7.30 und 19 Uhr gearbeitet.

Worin besteht die größte Herausforderung für einen HR-Direktor einer Bank?

Im Konflikt-Management. Ich musste Konflikte lösen, die sich aus all den unterschiedlichen Bankregulierungen ergaben. Und dann gab es noch die wiederkehrenden Runden des Arbeitsplatzabbaus. Wir mussten eine Menge guter Leute gehen lassen. Das war schon sehr deprimierend.

Hören Banker auf den Rat von HR-Mitarbeitern?

Manager werden immer kreativ sein, wenn es darum geht, abgesprochene Vereinbarungen zu umgehen, besonders wenn diese sie von Abkürzungen abhalten. Aber das stellt keine Besonderheit der Banken dar.

Wieso gibt es bei Banken so viele Diskriminierungsfälle?

Seit Mitte der 2000er Jahre schützen die Gerichte die Angestellten in London besser vor Diskriminierung. Dies brachte viel beachtete Urteile mit sich, die keine Obergrenze kannten. Plötzlich war es für die Leute lukrativer sich gegen als ungerecht empfundene Entscheidungen der Bank zu wehren – vor allem wenn die Klage einen ethnischen oder gender-spezifischen Hintergrund hatte. Diskriminierung kommt in Banken nicht häufiger als in anderen Branchen vor. Es geht nur um einen höheren Einsatz.

Spielt die Motivation von Mitarbeitern bei Banken jetzt eine große Rolle?

Alles, was ich von ehemaligen Kollegen höre, deutet darauf hin, dass das Engagement der Mitarbeiter in Banken derzeit einen sehr niedrigen Stand erreicht hat. Dabei spielen die geringeren Boni sicherlich eine Rolle, aber ich denke der Hauptgrund sind die endlosen Restrukturierungen, die die Finanzdienstleistungen in den zurückliegenden Jahren verkraften mussten. Die Leute haben gesehen, wie gute Kollegen gehen mussten. Ich habe auch beobachtet, wie das Wohlbefinden der Angestellten an den Budgets hängt. Die Talententwicklung und das Engagement wurden deutlich zurückgefahren. Und es hilft auch nicht weiter, dass die Banker von der breiten Öffentlichkeit verachtet werden…

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It’s that time of year: banks (in theory) are hiring for their front office businesses after bonuses have been paid. Who are the decision makers who will determine hiring in their key businesses globally? We’ve assembled a non-comprehensive, non-prescriptive, non-alphabetical list for Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse below.

It’s not for us to suggest that you attempt to network with these people directly. Many are likely to be inaccessible. However, determination can pay off. And it’s worth bearing in mind that some of the leading names in the banking industry got their big breaks by being kind of pushy….

25 people you need to know at Bank of America Merrill Lynch

1.  David Sobotka, head of global FICC trading

Sobotka is former Merrill Lynch & Co. commodities trader. Now head of global FICC trading, he previously ran Bank of America’s proprietary trading desk

2.  Fabrizio Gallo, global head of equities and head of the markets business in EMEA

Gallo joined BofA from hedge fund Brevan Howard in 2009. He was formerly a prop trader at Morgan Stanley.

3. Michele Foresti, head of FICC trading for EMEA

Michele Foresti has just been appointed as head of FICC trading for EMEA at B of A. He’s currently on gardening leave having only just left Deutsche Bank.

4. Bernard Mensah, global head of emerging markets sales and trading

London-based Mensah started his career at Goldman Sachs in 2000 and joined Bank of America in 2008. He was previously head of EMEA FICC trading at the bank.

5. Mohamed Yangui  head of equity derivatives structuring in Europe

Yangui joined B of A in December 2013. He was previously head of equities structuring at Nomura.

6. Simon Greenwell, head of equity research for EMEA

Greenwell is a Merrill Lynch veteran and has held positions across equity sales and equity research.

7. Miceal Chamberlain, co-head of equities sales for the Americas

Chamberlain has been co-head of equities sales for the Americas at Bank of America Corporation since December 2013. He focuses on long only clients.

8. Edouard Matitia-Cohen, co-head of equities sales for the Americas

Matitia-Cohen works with Chamberlain, but is focused on hedge funds.

9. Tom Klocker global head of e-trading strategy for FICC

Klocker is due to join B of A in June. He was head of algorithmic trading for fixed income, currencies and commodities at UBS.

10.  Brice Rosenzweig, global co-head of quantitative strategies

Based in London.

11. Leif Andersen, global co-head of quantitative strategies

Based in New York

12. Christian Meissner, head of investment banking operations

Meissner worked for Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Nomura before joining BofA in mid-2010. He’s one of BofA’s most senior bankers on this list.

13. Alex Wilmot-Sitwell

President of B of A in Europe and emerging markets (ex-Asia). Joined from UBS in 2012.

14. Vikram Sahu, head of Southern Asia equity research

Joined from Goldman Sachs in January 2014. Based in Singapore, expected to hire.

15. Steve Haggerty, head of Asia Pac equity research

Haggerty has been at B of A for over five years. He joined from Schroders and Citi.

16. Luigi Rizzo, head of European M&A

42 year-old Rizzo joined B of A from Goldman Sachs in April 2013.

17. Adrian Mee, global head of M&A

Worked with Christian Meissner at Lehman. Joined from Nomura in 2010. Formerly at Morgan Stanley. Based in London.

18. Diego De Giorgi, co-head of European corporate and investment banking.

Joined from Goldman Sachs in June 2012.

19. Bob Elfring, co-head of European corporate and investment banking

Promoted in June 2012. Elfring was previously Bank of America’s head of investment banking for the Benelux region and Northern Europe.

20. Jiro Seguchi, head of investment banking Asia Pac

Promoted in October 2013. Based in Hong Long. Was previously co-head of the business, now sole head.

21.  David Flannery, chief risk officer

Aged 37 now, Flannery was one of Crains’ 40 under 40 candidates in 2012.  Previously head of high yield at Deutsche Bank.

22. Sanaz Zaimi, Head of FICC and global markets structured products sales, EMEA.

Former Goldman Sachs partner. Joined in 2009 on allegedly gigantic package.

23. Duncan Scott, EMEA head of operational risk, Bank of America

Joined from Barclays in 2012 where he was most recently global head of collateral management and European head of OTC clearing

24. Jeremy Preddy, chief risk officer at Merrill Lynch International

Based in London. Previously spent more than a decade working in front office roles at Bank of America in the US and three years at ABN in Asia as head of the fixed income capital markets business,

25 people you need to know at UBS:

1. Mike Stewart, global head of equities

Mike Stewart joined UBS as global head of equities in October 2011. Based in New York, Mike is responsible for driving UBS’s growth strategy for equities globally. He joined UBS from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was head of global equities, responsible for the company’s equity sales and trading activities globally.

2. Shane Edwards, global head of equity derivatives structuring

Joined from RBS in 2012

3. Roger Naylor, global head of equity derivatives

Joined from Deutsche Bank in 2012

4. Philip Allison, global head of cash equities

Aged 38. Allison joined UBS in 1997 straight out of Cambridge University with a maths degree.

5. Mark Stockdale, EMEA head of equity research at UBS

Stockdale has been with UBS since 2002 according to the FCA Register. He was made head of equity research in March 2011.

6. Nick Pink, global head of research at UBS

Former head of equities for EMEA at UBS, now global head of research.

7. Paul Graham, EMEA head of investment banking operations at UBS

Joined from Deutsche Bank in 2007. Has worked in a variety of operations roles.

8. Dushyant Chadha,head of US equity derivatives

Joined from Deutsche Bank in July 2013. Chadha was head of equity derivatives for the Americas at Deutsche.

9. Jacob Kaippallimalil, head of automated market making

Based in New York. Joined from Bank of America Merrill Lynch in August 2013.

10. Chris Leone, co-head of equity derivatives trading and head of risk for UBS in the U.S.

Based in Stamford. Promoted in 2011.

11. Jason Hedberg, head of US equity derivatives sales

Based in New York. Joined from SocGen in November 2013.

12. David Soanes, global head of the financial institutions group at UBS

Soanes has spent his entire career at the Swiss bank and is a heavyweight player internally. Formerly head of global capital markets.

13. William Vereker, head of M&A and capital markets in Europe

Joined in June 2013 from Nomura Holdings. A natural resources and utilities banker by trade, formerly worked for Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers.

14. Alison Harding-Jones, co-head of EMEA M&A at UBS

Promoted in 2011. Formerly head of the bank’s emerging Europe business.

15. Jonathan Rowley, co-head of EMEA M&A at UBS

Promoted alongside Harding-Jones in 2011.

16. Laurence Grafstein, co-head of M&A in the Americas

Hired from Rothschild in August 2012.

17. Marc-Anthony Hourihan, co-head of M&A in the Americas.

Hourihan is a Harvard graduate who joined UBS in August 1994.

18. Chris Murphy, global head for rates, FX and Credit

Joined from Morgan Stanley in 2009. Has an MA in maths from Cambridge. Specializes in rates and credit.

19. George Athanasopoulos, global co-head for FX, Rates and Credit

Seems to work alongside Murphy. Specializes in FX. Athanasopoulos joined UBS in July 2010 as global head of foreign exchange and precious metals distribution.

20. Yadh Yaich, head of non-core credit at UBS in the U.S.

Based in New York. Previously a structured credit trader at the Swiss bank. Now manages a group of traders in the non-core unit.

21. Eric Lafon, co-head of global credit sales at UBS

Based in Singapore. Worked at the Swiss bank since 2000. Previously the co-head of FICC distribution in EMEA.

22. Donald Adams, head of finance transformation at UBS

Has worked at UBS since 1995 in various finance change roles. Probably a good person to know if you’re looking for a contract accounting role at the bank.

23. Philip Lofts, group chief risk officer

Group risk chief operating officer in 2008 after three years serving as group chief credit officer. Before this, Mr. Lofts worked for the investment bank in a number of business and risk control positions in Europe, Asia Pacific and the US. Mr. Lofts joined Union Bank of Switzerland in 1984 as a credit analyst and was appointed head of structured finance in Japan in 1998.

24. Claudia Rola, head of valuation methodology at UBS

A French astrophysicist, Rola worked for Morgan Stanley and Bank of America before joining UBS. As risk modelling becomes more important to banks’ capital measurements, Rola should be a good person to know for anyone with aspirations to work in a risk role at the Swiss bank.

25. Mark Sanborn, chief risk officer, UBS investment bank

Former head of global equity trading for Lehman Brothers. Sanborn ran two hedge funds after leaving Lehman. He joined UBS in April 2011.

25 people you need to know at Credit Suisse

1. Guiseppe Monarchi, co-head of EMEA M&A and co-head of the EMEA TMT Group

Italian by birth, Monarchi has been at Credit Suisse since the mid-1990s. He’s been head of M&A since 2010.

2. Vikas Seth, co-head of EMEA M&A 

Like Monarchi, Seth has been at Credit Suisse since the mid-1990s. He was appointed co-head of EMEA M&A alongside Monarchi in February 2012. Seth is based in London.

3. Madeleine McTernan, head of UK M&A

Joined Credit Suisse in 2007 Lehman Brothers, commonly known as ‘Maddy.’ McTernan has a law degree from Cambridge University and is a qualified solicitor.

4. Ewen Stevenson, co-head of EMEA investment banking at Credit Suisse 

A FIG banker by trade, Stevenson joined Credit Suisse in 1989 and was promoted to co-head of European investment banking in May 2013.

5, Marisa Drew, co-head of EMEA investment banking at Credit Suisse.

Drew worked at Merrill Lynch before joining Credit Suisse a decade ago, She was promoted alongside Stevenson in May last year.

6. James Armine, global head of investment banking (IBD) for Credit Suisse

Based in New York, Armine is a qualified solicitor who joined Credit Suisse First Boston back in 1997.

7. Scott Lindsay, global head of M&A at Credit Suisse

Based in New York, Lindsay joined Credit Suisse First Boston in 1982. Before going into banking he was a member of the economics and finance faculties of the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California.

8.  Ronnie Behar, co-head of APAC M&A at Credit Suisse

Singapore-based Behar was promoted to co-head of APAC M&A in June 2011.  He joined the Swiss bank’s EMEA M&A Group in 1994.

9. Joe Gallagaher, co-head of APAC M&A at Credit Suisse

Hong Kong-based Gallagher has been head of M&A for APAC since 2007.

10. Steven East, co-head of equity research at Credit Suisse

Based in London, East has been with Credit Suisse since 2001 according to the FCA Register.

11. Stefano Natella, global co-head of securities research (focused on equities)

New York-based Natella has been with Credit Suisse since 1992. He has an MBA from Columbia Business School.

12. Eric Miller, global co-head of securities research (focused on fixed income) 

Miller joined Credit Suisse as head of fixed income research in 2011. He previously worked at Barclays, Goldman and Merrill Lynch.

13. Steve Garnett, co-head of US equities

Garnett was previously head of global cash equities at CS. He joined the bank in 1999 and has a background in programme and electronic trading.

14. Mike Paliotta, co-head of US equities 

Like most of the other senior figures at Credit Suisse in New York, Paliotta has been with the Swiss bank since its First Boston days.

15. Dan Mathisson, head of US cash trading and execution

Mathisson is responsible for block trading, program trading and electronic trading desks at Credit Suisse in the US. He previously worked for DE Shaw.

16. Timothy O’Hara, global head of equities

New York-based O’Hara has worked at Credit Suisse since 1988. He’s also president and CEO of Credit Suisse in the US.

17. David Tait, co-head of global currencies and emerging markets 

Tait is an FX trader. He worked for Credit Suisse for six years until 2002 and then spent a decade at hedge funds Peloton Partners and Bluecrest Capital. If you meet him, ask about climbing Everest. 

18. Chris Corson, co-head of global currencies and emerging markets 

Chris Corson was formerly head of emerging markets at CS. He was promoted alongside Tait in late 2013.

19. Balbir Bakhshi

Group head of operational risk management for Credit Suisse, based in London. Since joining Credit Suisse as a risk manager in 1995, Bakhshi has had a number of senior risk roles at the bank. He was appointed to group head of operational risk in September 2013.

20. Brian Chan, head of APAC equity derivatives sales

Promoted in May 2013, based in Hong Kong.

21. Jason Forrester, EMEA CFO and head of capital management at Credit Suisse

Forrester was promoted to CFO in January 2014. He was previously head of risk analytics and reporting at the Swiss bank.

22. Colin Lovemason, head of market risk quantitative analytics at Credit Suisse

New York-based Lovemason joined Credit Suisse form ABN AMRO in 2005. He was promoted to head of market risk quantitative analytics in 2013, having previously been head of front office model validation.

23. Dan Rodriguez, chief risk officer for American equities at Credit Suisse

Rodriguez has been at CS since 2007. He previously worked for Morgan Stanley and has a PhD in economics from MIT.

24. William McQuilty, head of global cost management and EMEA COO at Credit Suisse

McQuilty is the man charged with getting costs down in Credit Suisse’s investment bank. He’s a good person to know if you want to work in an operations role at the Swiss firm. He joined from Citi in 2004.

25. Lasitha Dissanayak, COO for compliance EMEA at Credit Suisse’s investment bank

Dissanayak joined Credit Suisse in 2012. He previously worked for UBS and Deloitte, where he was a member of the financial services regulatory consulting practice.

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Bonus annoncés et bientôt en partie distribués, le deuxième trimestre pointe. Autrement dit, la période la plus propice pour les financiers pour partir à la quête d’un nouvel emploi. Si tel est votre désir, cette liste pourrait vous être utile. Elle contient le nom d’employeurs en finance en France et à l’étranger qui ont fait connaitre leur intention de recruter au cours des prochains mois.

ABC Arbitrage

Dans son plan Ambition 2016, dévoilé hier, le hedge fund français prévoit le recrutement d’une dizaine de nouveaux collaborateurs à Paris, principalement des ingénieurs recherche quantitative et des développeurs informatiques (C# et C++) ainsi qu’un juriste bilingue pour accompagner son développement à l’international. À plus longue échéance, des recrutements de quants/analystes risques sont prévus pour la toute nouvelle filiale en Irlande et le bureau à Singapour dont l’ouverture est prévue au cours de cette année.

Banque Postale

« Nous sommes tournés à fond vers le développement et nous allons le rester », indiquait le mois dernier Rémy Weber, nouvel homme fort de La Banque Postale. L’établissement a de grandes ambitions sur le marché des professionnels, pour lequel 1.000 conseillers devraient à l’horizon 2020 générer 400 m€ contre 50 m€ aujourd’hui. La banque veut également se renforcer dans les activités de crédit. Plus de vingt offres étaient en ligne à ce jour sur le site Internet de l’établissement : des postes d’analyste crédit, chargés d’affaires, conseillers spécialisés, directeur d’agence, ingénieur statisticien…

Banque Centrale Européenne

La BCE a entamé son énorme plan de recrutements, qui vise à intégrer 1.000 professionnels cette année, principalement des profils issus de la gestion des risques et de la compliance. Les trois-quart des nouvelles recrues seront en charge de la supervision bancaire.

Bluecrest Capital

Le hedge fund londonien créé en 2000 reste toujours très discret sur ses plans de recrutement. Cependant, la tendance actuelle veut que Bluecrest soit amené à débaucher des traders employés par les meilleures banques d’investissement. UBS semble être l’une de ses cibles favorites du moment.

BNP Paribas CIB

La banque a insisté à nouveau lors de la publication de ses résultats financiers pour 2013, sur son intention de recruter en Asie et en Amérique du Nord. Deux axes apparaissent prioritaires : le renforcement des plates-formes de dette (High Yield notamment) et le recrutement de banquiers d’affaires pour développer les activités avec les grandes entreprises et la clientèle institutionnelle.

BTG Pactual

Cette banque d’investissement brésilienne souhaite ouvrir un plateforme de trading sur les commodities à Londres. Et pour cela, elle prévoit le recrutement de 100 professionnels du secteur. Jan-Erik a rejoint début mars l’établissement comme “head of commodities investments”.

Citigroup

Citi pourrait devoir recruter pour son équipe de recherche actions à Londres après avoir vu partir un certain nombre de ses collaborateurs. La banque serait également active dans le recrutements de professionnels pour sa banque d’investissement à Londres. Enfin, le géant américain devrait renforcer ses équipes de contrôle et de compliance, après que ces dernières aient vu leurs prévisions de dépenses pour cette année augmenter de 200 à 300 millions de dollars.

JPMorgan

La banque d’investissement américaine veut developer son activité de cash equity. Un certain nombre d’analystes sont actuellement recrutés. Les experts en trading électronique sont également dans son viseur. Enfin, JPMorgan recrute également une centaine de professionnels IT pour sa plateforme technologique basée à Singapour.

Lazarus Partnership

La nouvelle boutique londonienne spécialisée dans la recherche actions et lancée le mois dernier par un ancien dirigeant d’Oriel Securities serait en train de constituer une équipe d’analystes.

Man Group/GLG

Man Group souhaite renforcer GLG, son hedge fund maison. Lors de la publication de ses résultats début mars, le groupe a indiqué qu’il recherchait pour GLG en 2014 des « talents du monde de l’investissement de haut calibre ».

Oddo

Fort de ses bons résultats 2013, le groupe Oddo a insisté vendredi dernier sur sa stratégie de croissance pour 2014. Le recrutement figure parmi les 5 leviers retenus par le groupe, détenu à hauteur de 30% du capital par 56 % de ses 1.000 collaborateurs. Sur le site, les RH sont passées à l’action : à ce jour, 16 offres de CDI sont proposées (sales, trader, analyste, associate corporate finance, banquier et ingénieur patrimoniaux…).

Pictet

Pour ses 10 ans, le bureau parisien de Pictet prépare une nouvelle offensive sur le marché français. L’objectif est de se rapprocher des clients finaux. L’établissement vient d’ailleurs d’annoncer l’arrivée de Mohammed Amor en qualité de responsable commercial “banques et réseaux”. Mais c’est surtout au niveau du siège à Genève que la société cherche à recruter (gestion d’actifs, gestion de fortune, recherche et fonctions support) et dans une moindre mesure à Luxembourg.

Société Générale

Le deuxième groupe bancaire français a lancé officiellement sa nouvelle banque privée en France le mois dernier avec l’arrivée prévue de « près de 200 nouveaux banquiers privés et experts localisés ». Côté BFI, SocGen se concentre surtout le développement des activités de trading obligataire en Asie et aux Etats-Unis. 150 embauches ont été évoquées.

SwissLife Banque Privée

Avec l’arrivée de deux nouveaux banquiers privés fin février à Paris, Swiss SwissLife Banque Privée confirme ses ambitions de développement affichées par Mathieu Breton il y a un an au moment de sa nomination au poste de directeur commercial. La filiale Banque Privé de l’assureur suisse atteint 4,1 mds d’€ d’actifs sous gestion à fin 2013, soit à mi-chemin à peine des 10 mds d’€ visés pour 2017.

Tikehau IM

Créée en 2007, la société de gestion spécialisée, qui compte aujourd’hui plus de 50 collaborateurs, a enregistré une excellente année 2013 : les actifs gérés ont augmenté de plus de 90% sur l’année, à 2,3 mds€. Vendredi dernier, Tikehau IM indiquait le renforcement de ses équipes en immobilier et actions avec l’arrivée de deux profils seniors, Frédéric Jariel et Thomas Friedberger, tous deux anciens de Goldman Sachs pour mener le développement sur ses deux activités.

UBS

Le géant Suisse recrute en priorité des banquiers M&A seniors. La banque dit vouloir en recruter au total 24 d’ici les deux prochaines années. À Paris, après avoir recruté deux juniors l’été dernier, Fabrice Scheer Head of UBS M&A MidCap recherche un banquier M&A doté de 5/7 ans d’expérience – « une personnalité » – issu de l’univers Mid-Cap (les profils private equity, Conseil/Audit ne sont pas exclus). D’autres recrutements pourraient suivre dans cette équipe de 13 collaborateurs qui s’occupe d’environ une dizaine d’opérations par an typiquement comprises entre 20 et 200 millions d’euros de valorisation.

Wells Fargo Securities

Wells Fargo a developpé depuis un moment ses activités de banque d’investissement en Europe. L’établissement américain serait à la recherche aujourd’hui de professionnels couvrant les marches high yield et en M&A.

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Relative to their size, smaller private equity firms offer more job opportunities, but if money is your main motivation it’s best to target the larger companies.

Making the switch into private equity is notoriously tough (and ever-more popular), so it helps to hedge your bets.

Smaller firms employ more people relative to their assets under management, according to figures provided by research firm Preqin. Private equity companies with less than $250m in AUM employ an average of just 13.8 people, but that is 111.6 for every $1bn. This figure gets smaller as firms get larger, to the point that the private equity behemoths with $10bn or more employ an average just 9.4 people per $1bn in AUM, even if average headcount is 227.2.

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The point, says Preqin, is that appears that smaller firms require more manpower for each buck, so employment opportunities there are relatively more plentiful. However, Preqin says “the operating economics of the largest funds, with higher income from management fees are often more favourable for their managers”.

So, yes, you’ll earn more in larger firms – from the outset, and substantially so at the senior levels in most funds, as the table below shows.

For recent graduates, investment banking interviews are built on two main structures: personal behavioral questions and technical queries. As we’re told, the latter tend to be rather formulaic. There are only so many technical questions an interviewer can ask. Still, the questions can be answered in many different ways. Like case studies, it’s often more about how you explain your logic.

Below are six questions commonly asked in investment banking interviews, along with potential answers put together by a business school graduate now working on Wall Street. How did they do? Let us know in the comments.

Define Beta for a layman 

Beta tells you how much the price of a given security moves relative to movements in the overall market.

A Beta of 1 means that if the market moves, the stock moves in unison with the market.

A Beta < 1 means that if the market moves a certain amount, the stock will move less than that amount

A Beta >1 means that if the market moves a certain amount, the stock will move more than that amount.

What is CAPM?

CAPM is the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and it is a model designed to find the expected return on an investment and therefore the appropriate discount rate for a company’s cash flows. It is a linear model with one independent variable: beta.

CAPM divides the risk of holding risky assets into systemic and specific risks. To the extent that any asset is affected by general market moves, that asset entails systematic risk. Specific risk is the risk which is unique to an individual asset. It represents the component of an asset’s volatility which is uncorrelated with general market moves. According to CAPM, the marketplace compensates investors for taking systematic risk, but not specific risk.

CAPM considers a simplified world in which there are no taxes or transaction costs. All investors have identical investment horizons. All investors have identical perceptions regarding the expected returns, volatilities and correlations of available risky investments.

Formula: Ri = Rf + Beta * (MRP)

Rf = risk‐free rate (use 10‐year Treasury)

MRP = Market Risk Premium (Rm – Rf)

Rm = Expected Return of Market

Of the three main valuation methods (DCF, public comparables and transaction comparables), rank them in terms of which gives you the highest price? Which one yields the highest valuation?

Simple answer: It depends. Depends on discount rate in DCF model, depends on the comparable companies used, depends on whether the market is hot/cold and the companies are overvalued/undervalued for no good reason.

Generally, however, transaction comps would give the highest valuation, since a transaction value would include a premium for shareholders over the actual value.

The second highest valuation would probably be the DCF, since there are a lot more assumptions that are involved (growth rate, discount rate, terminal value, tax rates, etc.), but it can also be the most accurate depending on how good the assumptions are.

Trading comps offer the least wiggle room and will solely depend on the choice of companies and how the market treats them.

If you had to pick one statement to look at (balance sheet, cash flow,

 income statement), which one would it be and why?

No right answer. Can go with whichever one you like. Each has its advantages. Income statement shows the profitability of a company, trends in sales/expenses margins, etc.; balance sheet is a great way to see what items make up the company’s assets and whom the company needs to pay back for those assets. Personally, I would go with cash flow statement. At the end of the day, cash is king. A company that has positive income but very little cash is in deep trouble.

Cash flows are used for DCF models, not net income. The cash flow statement allows observing important performance metrics from both income statements and balance sheets such as net income, depreciation, sources and uses of funds, changes in assets and liabilities.

What is the difference between commercial and investment banking? 

There are many definitions, but these are some of the broader ideas that differentiate the two:

Commercial bank: accepts deposits from customers and makes consumer and commercial loans using these deposits. The vast majority of loans made by commercial banks are held as assets on the bank’s balance sheet.

Investment bank: acts as an intermediary between companies and investors.  Does not accept deposits, but rather sells investments, advises on M&A, etc…loans and debt/equity issues originated by the bank are not typically held by the bank, but rather sold to third parties on the buy side through their sales and trading arms.

What is accretion and dilution? — Give an example 

Accretion is asset growth through addition or expansion. Accretion can occur through a company’s internal development or by way of mergers and acquisitions.

Dilution is a reduction in earnings per share of common stock that occurs through the issuance of additional shares or the conversion of convertible securities. Adding to the number of shares outstanding reduces the value of holdings of existing shareholders.

An acquisition is accretive when the combined (pro forma) EPS is greater than the acquirer’s standalone EPS. For  example, suppose analysts expect Procter & Gamble’s EPS to be $3.05 next year. You are a banker charged with the task of modeling the impact to Procter & Gamble’s EPS if they were to acquire Colgate-Palmolive (this is purely hypothetical by the way). So you build your model and determine that the pro form EPS next year would actually be $3.10 — $0.05 higher than had the acquisition not taken place. In other words, the deal would be $0.05 accretive next year. An acquisition is dilutive if the opposite is determined: that pro forma EPS would be lower than $3.05. A deal is considered breakeven when there is virtually no impact on EPS.

Accretion: When pro forma EPS > Acquirer’s EPS

Dilution: When pro forma EPS < Acquirer’s EPS

Breakeven: No impact on Acquirer’s EPS

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Auch der Aufenthalt innerhalb der Schweizer Grenzen könnte in Zukunft Private Banker und Vermögensverwalter vielleicht nicht mehr vor der Verfolgung der US-Justiz beschützen. Die beiden Senatoren John McCain und Carl Levin fordern in einem Brief an den stellvertretenden US-Staatsanwalt James M. Cole jetzt die Auslieferung von fast 60 Bankern und Finanzberatern aus der Schweiz zu betreiben.

„Sie haben bestätigt, dass 35 Banker und 25 Finanzberater dem Verstoß gegen US-Steuerrecht beschuldigt sind. Von diesen wurden sechs verurteilt oder als schuldig angeklagt. Die Mehrheit des Rests lebt offen in der Schweiz und hat sich seit Jahren einem Gerichtsverfahren zu ihren Verbrechen entzogen“, heißt es in dem Brief. Der Staatsanwalt hatte keinen Auslieferungsantrag gestellt, weil die Schweiz ihre Staatsbürger nicht an andere Staaten ausliefert.

Dies halten die beiden US-Senatoren für nicht stichhaltig. „Doch der Auslieferungsvertrag zwischen den Vereinigten Staaten und der Schweiz untersagt keine Auslieferung von Schweizer Bürgern, die US-Bürgern bei der Steuerhinterziehung geholfen haben. Und jetzt ist die Zeit gekommen, die erklärte Bereitschaft der Schweizer Regierung zu testen, an einem international strengeren Steuervollzug mitzuwirken und der Beteiligung ihrer Bürger an Steuervergehen ein Ende zu setzen“, fordern die beiden Senatoren.

Zwar sehe der Vertrag mit der Schweiz eine gewisse Diskretion in Steuervergehen vor. Doch diese sei nicht „unbegrenzt“, insbesondere nicht bei kriminellen Vergehen wie Betrug und der Fälschung öffentlicher Dokumente. Zumindest einige der Vorwürfe gegenüber den knapp 60 Schweizern würden diese Kriterien erfüllen.

Beiden Senatoren ist bewusst, dass die Schweizer Gesetzgebung Steuerhinterziehung nicht als Verbrechen betrachtet – ein Umstand, hinter dem sich Schweizer Banker seit Jahrzehnten verstecken. Dennoch sollten sämtliche Möglichkeiten ausgeschöpft werden, fordern die Senatoren. „Selbst wenn das Ersuchen erfolglos wäre, wird es der Schweiz und ihren Bürgern klarmachen, dass die Vereinigten Staaten bereit sind alle legalen Mittel einzusetzen, um die Begünstigung von US-Steuerhinterziehung zu beenden und sämtliche Beschuldigten zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen.“

Bei McCain und Levin handelt es sich keinesfalls um Hinterbänkler, sondern um Schwergewichte in ihren jeweiligen Parteien, den Republikanern (McCain) und den Demokraten (Levin). McCain trat bei der US-Präsidentschaftswahl in 2008 sogar gegen den heutigen US-Präsidenten Barack Obama an. Beide gehören dem Ausschuss an, der erst vor wenigen Wochen eine umfassende Studie zu den Praktiken der Credit Suisse im Zusammenhang mit Steuerhinterziehung von US-Bürgern vorgelegt hatte.

Die USA wurden von der Schweiz oftmals unterschätzt; dies dürfte jetzt eher unwahrscheinlich sein. Erst Ende des vergangenen Jahres wurde der ehemalige Wealth Management-Vorstand der UBS Raoul Weil in einer Nobelherberge in Bologna von der italienischen Polizei verhaftet und an die Vereinigten Staaten ausgeliefert. Seither geht in der Schweiz die Angst um, dass Weil noch einige Interna und Namen gegenüber der US-Justiz ausplaudern könnte, um ein mildes Urteil zu erwirken. Auch in anderen Staaten wie in Deutschland wird wiederholt nach einer härteren Gangart im Steuerstreit mit der Schweiz gerufen. Mit der Forderung nach Auslieferung von Schweizer Staatsbürgern an die USA erreicht der Streit jedenfalls eine neue Dimension. Schweizer könnten in ihrem eigenen Land nicht länger vor der US-Justiz sicher sein.

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The post Das gefährliche Leben von Schweizer Bankern: US-Senatoren fordern Auslieferung appeared first on eFinancialCareers.

Credit Suisse is on a cost cutting mission. In the fourth quarter of 2013, expenses were 101% of revenues at its investment bank. That’s not so hot on any measure, and particularly when you consider that CS has a cost-revenue target of 70%.

As we observed last month, Credit Suisse seemed to spend 2013 losing expensive existing staff and hiring in cheap graduates and MBAs. That trend appears to be continuing in 2014: the bank has just said goodbye to Neil Maddocks, a managing director in the rates business which is part of the bank’s global macro products group. Maddocks, a graduate of Cambridge University, had been with CS since at least 2003 and had held senior positions in Asia.

Credit Suisse insiders confirmed his departure.

Maddocks isn’t the only senior CS trader to have silently disappeared recently. The Financial Conduct Authority Register shows that Simon Horwood, co-head of trading for global FX and short term rates slipped out at the end of January.  Horwood had been with Credit Suisse for over a decade.

The removal of senior rates bankers follows Credit Suisse’s decision to pull back from rates trading, as presented in its latest strategic bubble chart in February. 

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Barclays’ investment bank used to be the jewel in the crown. Right now it looks like a piece of worthless coloured glass.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank point out that at Barclays’ current share price, the investment bank appears to be valued at zero. It doesn’t help that Barclays’ shares have fallen 15% so far in 2014 compared to other European banks: “At current market cap new investors get the Barclays IB for nothing if the rest of the group is valued in line with peers,” say Deutsche Bank’s analysts.

This is unfortunate. The nil-valuation for the investment bank has prompted calls or it to spin-out, or for the Lehman deal to be unpicked.  Analysts at Bank of America argued that last week that if Barclays detaches the US investment banking business gained from Lehman, it would offer an opportunity for the bank to ditch its global investing banking pretensions and to focus on its European client base.

Deutsche’s analysts thinking that lopping off the investment bank would be a mistake, however. They argue that in the medium term, spinning off the U.S. business or the investment bank in its entirety would be value-destructive.

For the moment, Barclays is suffering disproportionately from the expected weakness of its large fixed income trading business in the first quarter, when Deutsche revenues could fall another 30%. However, the German bank’s analysts argue that Barclays’ share price is already as low as it’s likely to go, that any bad news is already priced in and that investors should take a risk on Barclays at this point. After all, if the investment bank is worth zero things can hardly get any worse…

Exhibit One: Barclays’ share price 

Source: Deutsche Bank

Exhibit Two: An investment bank for free?

Source: Deutsche Bank

Exhibit Three: Be prepared for another dreadful quarter in FICC 

Source: Deutsche Bank 

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Während die meisten klassischen Banken mit der Profitabilität ihres Filialgeschäfts zu kämpfen haben, klingelt bei der Targobank die Kasse. In 2013 kletterte der Vorsteuergewinn um 5 Prozent auf 391 Mio. Euro. Die Tochter des französischen Bankenriesen Crédit Mutuel konnte somit ihr Ergebnis vor Steuern seit 2008 mit damals 208 Mio. Euro kontinuierlich steigern.

Auch bei der Mitarbeiterzahl geht es kräftig bergauf. Während die Düsseldorfer Ende 2012 noch rund 6500 Beschäftigte zählten, waren es zwölf Monate später bereits 6787 und der Stellensegen soll weitergehen. So will die Targobank ihr Filialnetz bis 2017 von 350 auf 400 steigern. „Bis Ende 2014 kommen voraussichtlich zwölf weitere Niederlassungen hinzu, u.a. in Amberg, Baunatal, Gifhorn, Greifswald, Hof, Lahr, Leer, Leipzig-Grünau, Neustadt a. d. Weinstraße, München-Milbertshofen und Soest,“ kündigte das Institut an. Derzeit würden 200 neue Kundenbetreuer gesucht.

Doch lohnt sich die Arbeit bei der Targobank überhaupt? Nach einem Blick in den Geschäftsbericht 2013 sind Zweifel angebracht. So weist das Institut bei 4190 Beschäftigten in der Targobank AG & Co. KGAa nur einen Personalaufwand von 249 Mio. Euro aus. Mithin ließ die Targobank in 2013 keine 60.0000 Euro pro Mitarbeiter springen. Damit schneidet das Institut auch in unserem Ranking „Welche Bank zahlt in Deutschland am besten?“ eher bescheiden ab.

In diesen Zahlen sind überdies die Arbeitgeberbeiträge zu den Sozialversicherungen bereits enthalten – es handelt sich also nicht um Bruttovergütungen. Die geringen Kosten dürften auch eine Erklärung für die gute Profitabilität der Bank abgeben. So liegt die Aufwands-Ertrags-Quote bei sehr guten 58,9 Prozent. Die Targobank musste für jeden Euro Ertrag also nur 59 Cent ausgeben.

Auch für das laufende Jahr zeigt sich Targobank-Chef Franz Josef Nick optimistisch: „Wir gehen weiter von einer gegenüber 2013 unverändert stabilen Konsumnachfrage und einem robusten Arbeitsmarkt in Deutschland aus und erwarten daher einen weiteren Anstieg unseres Geschäftsergebnisses.“

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The post Targobank sucht 200 Kundenberater: Doch bei der Bezahlung sieht es bescheiden aus appeared first on eFinancialCareers.

Investment banks, despite being global behemoths, would have you believe that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet. Everyone is indoctrinated into the same training scheme, everyone is on message and everyone buys into both the brand and the culture of the organisation.

This, according to a new study, is sadly a fallacy. Instead, investment banks are organised into what effectively amounts to a series of cliques, divided by both job functions and geography.

The study by Tim Hinemann at the HafenCity University in Hamburg on the ‘Geographies and Knowledge Practices of Global Banks’, suggests that investment banking employees are “embedded in a specific local context and that this shapes they understanding of data and information” and that this is why “investment practice and the behaviour of branches or departments might differ from one financial centre to another”.

Inevitably, despite attempts to promote an homogenous corporate culture through flying out young investment bankers from various locations to meet up with their peers or meetings to encourage “shared experience, expertise and commitment to a joint enterprise” this “embeddedness” within a particular financial centre that determines their social and cultural behaviour, it suggests.

More disturbingly for the investment banks, perhaps, is the growing distance between divisions. The front and back office have “Chinese walls” for compliance reasons, but this also causes individual cultures within the different departments, suggests the research.

“Investment bankers consider themselves to form a high-status group, especially because their understanding of the market, which in turn emerges through their proximities to other market actors and exposure to market gossip, information and interpretations. Because of this, investment bankers form a distinct network within a bank: they are defined by particular social and cultural attitudes and behaviours,” says the report.

In other words, investment bankers in the front office, shockingly, have a high opinion of themselves relative to colleagues in other departments. This is also reflected in the “low status” afforded to the ever-more important risk management teams, it says.

The cliques are not limited to the advisory side of the business. Traders are offered insights by economists and analysts within the bank, which they generally view as “unhelpful for their work because market prices were moving too fast or had nothing to do with economic fundamentals”.

Instead, therefore, “traders relied less on knowledge from related occupations and more on knowledge from their colleagues on the trading floor”.

So, before you start buying into the corporate brand and espousing all things Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, it might be an idea to get in with your team first. “Global investment banks are no monoliths, acting according to some inner logic. Instead they are made up of different logics, which are constructed out of occupational and spatial labour.”

The post Uncovering the investment banking cliques appeared first on eFinancialCareers.

If you want to work as a trader in an investment bank, you probably haven’t thought of targeting the ‘capital management desk’. That might be a little remiss of you. By all accounts, capital management traders have become a thing.

“Capital management desks are an area of banking that has significantly grown,” says Christian Robbins at London-based search firm Cherry Bull. “Three or four years ago they weren’t recognized as a standalone operation, but there’s been a lot of selective hiring for this area and there are still some banks that are behind the curve.”

As the term suggests, capital management is all about banks managing capital in the new capital-constrained regulatory environment. That means optimizing the use of the scarce capital they do have and optimizing the allocation of that capital between product and business areas. However, it also means hedging against risks taken by the bank – either by aggregating counterparty risks in the case of CVA desks, or by hedging against the present value cost of funding a banks’ derivatives exposures over their entire lifecycle in the case of FVA desks. It can also involve ‘collateral transformation’, which fundamentally involves structuring products from existing collateral held by a bank so that this collateral becomes more acceptable to new centralized clearing houses.

Another headhunter who recruits traders, and spoke on an off-the-record basis, said capital management desks can be interesting places to work: “These guys get to take a lot of proprietary trading risk in order to mitigate the bank’s liabilities. There’s not much pure prop trading that goes on in a bank these days, and they get to work on multi-asset books, which makes it even better.”

There have been a few recent indicators of capital management desks’ growing importance. When it released its remuneration report last week, UBS said capital management is one of the key determinants of pay in its investment bank. Lloyds recently hired Hugues Lasalle from Deloitte as a director and capital management trader in its capital and collateral management unit. Credit Suisse recently replaced its EMEA CFO with a new EMEA CFO and head of capital management.  And Barclays is said to have been shifting traders into its capital management unit.

It seems there’s only one problem with traders jobs on the capital desk. And that is the pay.

Because capital management traders sit within banks’ treasury units, they get paid like treasury professionals not like traders. And treasury professionals don’t get paid well. “These guys are taking prop risk, but they’re getting paid like administrators. Most of them are desperate to leave for hedge funds,” said the headhunter.

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The post Is the most simultaneously interesting and underpaid trading job in an investment bank? appeared first on eFinancialCareers.

Maurice Thompson, the former head of Citigroup’s UK operations whose departure was announced last month, has now formally left the bank, according to filings on the FSA register. He’s off to pursue ‘other interests outside of banking’. Thompson attracted attention for abseiling 17 storeys down the Royal London Hospital for charity in 2013, but it’s worth reminding ourselves of a time when his interests also involved donning a frilled cravat and tights and performing ceremonial duties around the county of Leicestershire.

In 2009, Thompson was appointed High Sheriff of Leicestershire, a role occupied by a reputable member of the community for one year only, which used be the main law enforcement method in the county but now largely involves shaking the hands of local residents and donning a jaunty old-fashioned outfit. Here’s Thompson in all his glory:

Here’s a close up:

In fairness to Thompson, who works in an industry many believe to be staffed by money-grabbing psychopaths, he’s done a lot of the community of Leicestershire. He moved there in 1995, occupying a country abode near the village of Lubenham, and set up the charity Leicestershire First in 2008 with his wife Vivien. The aim is to “promote leadership, excellence and citizenship” in the county, by awarding £3,000 to unheralded people involved in arts, volunteering and community building who then donate it to a charity of their choice.

Thompson’s country locale might sound out of kilter with life in the City, but it doesn’t involve the sort of brutal commute that caused Hector Sants to resign his post at Barclays. Lubenham is a few minutes away from Market Harborough, from which there’s a direct train to London St Pancras that takes just over an hour.

Thompson’s bio paints him as something of an action man. Not only is he involved with the local fox hunting group, he took a sabbatical while at Citi in which he “rode horses in Pakistan, hiked in the Alps and did community work in the UK”.

Outside of investment banking he also enjoys “skiing and ski-touring, riding, rugby (Leicester Tigers), cricket, climbing, photography, international travel and Germany”. Germany?

The post Ex-Citi UK chief now free to don frilly cravats, tights and knickerbockers appeared first on eFinancialCareers.

Au risque d’en décevoir certains, la 12e édition de Great Place to Work France ne fait pas, une fois de plus, franchement honneur au secteur financier. Aucun des acteurs majeurs de l’industrie financière ne figure dans le palmarès des groupes de plus de 500 salariés. Même AXA et American Express, habitués des dernières éditions, ont disparu des classements.

Trusté par les groupes de l’agro-alimentaire et du retail, en particulier américains, le classement des entreprises de plus de 500 salariés pourront toujours constituer des pistes de recherche pour tous les candidats en finance d’entreprise en quête d’employeurs aux petits soins avec leurs salariés.

Les ingénieurs et consultants travaillant en banque/finance auront, eux-aussi, l’embarras du choix devant la multitude de cabinets de conseil et d’ingénierie pour lesquels les salariés se déclarent majoritairement “heureux” et “fiers” de travailler. Parmi ceux intervenant dans la finance et employant plus de 500 salariés, on citera Davidson Consulting, numéro 1 du classement cette année, devant Mars, PepsiCo et Microsoft ! Cette entreprise de conseil en management et d’expertise technologique de 1.100 salariés fondée en 2005 recrute des gens « sympa » et « cultive le fun », lit-on sur son site. Elle a aussi un mystérieux « Davidson Code » expliquant l’identité et la philosophie du groupe.

LIRE AUSSI :

La bancassurance absente du classement des “entreprises où il fait bon travailler”

Le cabinet français de conseil en ingénierie Extia (5^e place) et le géant américain leader du Cloud et du big data EMC (16^e place) figurent également dans le palmarès 2014 des groupes de plus de 500 salariés. Les deux cabinets interviennent notamment auprès des institutions financières et recrutent beaucoup d’ingénieurs IT.

Concernant les entreprises de moins de 500 salariés, on remarquera forcément la présence à la 18^e place de la Financière de l’Echiquier, unique acteur issu de l’industrie financière à proprement dit. La société de gestion, habituée du palmarès, est détenue à 100 % par ses dirigeants et ses salariés. La société, qui met l’accent sur la diversité des équipes, recherche actuellement deux gérants et un chef de projet informatique, si l’on en croit son site Internet.

Figure également à la 3^e place de ce deuxième classement Accuracy, cabinet de conseil financier indépendant lancé en 2004 par une équipe d’anciens d’Arthur Andersen et qui compte aujourd’hui plus de 100 salariés en France.

Les autres cabinets intervenant dans l’industrie financière présentent des profils très variés :

-         Conseil, logiciels et/ou services IT comme D2SI (6^e), Zenika (7^e), NetXP (15e), KleeGroup (39^e), EXL Group (42^e)

-         Conseil et ingénierie spécialisé en finance de marché (Novencia, 31^e)

-         Performances opérationnelles : Argon Consulting (8^e) qui intervient notamment auprès des fonds d’investissement

-         Marché des études et gestion des données financières (Factset, 19^e)

-         Conseil en management (Siapartners, 20^e)

-         Conseil en stratégie, organisation et conseil opérationnel (Square, 28^e, et qui prévoit 80 recrutements cette année)

-         Recrutements : Robert Half (29^e), Hays (33^e) et Robert Walters (35e). Les trois cabinets disposent d’équipes dédiées aux métiers de la finance pour les professionnels de la finance tentés par une reconversion dans le recrutement.

Enfin, il est bon de rappeler en conclusion que pour avoir une chance d’être distinguées dans ce palmarès, les entreprises doivent forcément se porter candidates et … payer (4.900€) pour couvrir les frais liés à la diffusion et l’analyse des questionnaires distribués aux salariés. Pas de garantie pour autant : seules 60 entreprises ont été retenues cette année dans ces 2 palmarès pour 166 inscrites.

The post Découvrez les sociétés (en finance) où il fait “bon travailler” appeared first on eFinancialCareers.

While the content of your automated email signature is certainly nothing to lose sleep over, it does convey something about you, whether you recognize it or not. Perhaps the most important aspect is your valediction – or your sign off – as you have more freedom to make choices.

What’s the strongest way to end a work email? We conducted an informal poll of bankers to find out their favorites, along with those that make their skin crawl.

1. No valediction: This appears the most popular, particularly for more experienced Wall Streeters. No “warmest regards” or any other cliché. You end your email and have it roll right into your signature.

“It says you’re all business,” said one former investment banker, who picked it up from their boss. “It was intimidating and made you move.”

2. Best: The clear second choice, “best” is vanilla enough to not say much about you or your relationship with the email recipient. It’s “safe.” A simple “regards” is in the same camp.

3. Sincerely: “What are you living in the 19^th century?” said another banker. “Sincerely” is old, stodgy and overly formal. “Maybe for a cover letter, but not in the office.”

4. Cheers: Only if you’re living in the U.K.

5. Thanks/Thank you: Unless you want to stamp “young and inexperienced” on your forehead, steer clear of thanking everyone under the sun in emails. It’s overly gracious but more so it “exudes weakness,” said one VP at an investment bank. It’s seemingly small, but constantly thanking someone in work exchanges subconsciously places you on the bottom rung.  “And whatever you do, no exclamation points,” he said.

The post The best (and worst) ways to sign off a work email appeared first on eFinancialCareers.

Die Gerüchte um einen kräftigen Arbeitsplatzabbau im Investmentbanking der Deutschen Bank verdichten sich. So will die Nachrichtenagentur Bloomberg von einem bevorstehenden Stellenabbau in der Sparte durch zwei ungenannte Personen erfahren haben. Dies gehe über den bereits in 2012 angekündigten Abbau von 2000 Stellen hinaus. Von dem Abbau seien auch Managing Directors betroffen.

Jetzt legte auch Handelsblatt Online nach. Demnach plant der Branchenprimus einen Abbau von 500 Stellen, der hauptsächlich auf das Geschäft mit Anleihen, Währungen und Rohstoffen (FICC) entfalle. Betroffen sei vor allem der Standort London. Frankfurt und New York würden hingegen weitgehend ungeschoren davonkommen.

Von der Deutschen Bank hieß es hierzu nur lapidar: „Wir werden auch weiterhin die Mitarbeiterzahl unseres Corporate Banking & Securities als Teil unserer Strategie 2015+ dynamisch managen und im Einklang mit unserem langfristigen Ziel, die Effizienz weiter verbessern.”

Laut Bloomberg stehe die Entscheidung in Verbindung mit der Anhebung der Grundgehälter bei der Deutschen Bank. Das Institut hatte bereits bei der Jahrespressekonferenz Ende Januar angekündigt, die Gehälter ihre Manager an die EU-Bonusdeckelung anzupassen. Im Klartext bedeutet dies: Gehälter hoch und Boni runter, damit das Verhältnis von Boni zu Gehältern nicht über der gesetzlichen Maximalquote von 2:1 liegt. Der Nachteil dabei: Die Fixkosten im Investmentbanking steigen dadurch weiter an.

Dabei hatte die Deutsche Bank bereits im abgelaufenen Geschäftsjahr im Fixed Income-Geschäft schwerer zu kämpfen als der Branchendurchschnitt. So stürzten allein die Erträge in Debt Sales & Trading um 25 Prozent auf 6,9 Mrd. Euro ab. Da es sich um eine der Hauptertragsquellen der Deutschen Bank handelt, trifft ein Ertragseinbruch hier das Institut besonders schmerzhaft. Bei der Jahrespressekonferenz hatte Deutsche Bank Co-Chef Anshu Jain lediglich von einer „Rekalibrierung“ des FICC-Geschäfts gesprochen. Jetzt wird allmählich klar, was er darunter versteht.

Quelle: Deutsche Bank-Präsentation

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The post Frankfurt kaum betroffen: Deutsche Bank streicht angeblich 500 Stellen im Fixed Income-Geschäft appeared first on eFinancialCareers.