AU
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch is becoming a high-stakes player in Australia’s investment banking talent war.
In its most recent hiring coup, the US firm poached 10 staff from Royal Bank of Scotland to boost its presence in Australian fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities.
The bank is believed to have paid generously to get these bankers on board. “Most bases for senior people would be $300k plus, possibly up to $500k. Bonus potential is the real question. There have been stories about large multi-year bonuses for the RBS guys,” commented one recruiter, who asked not to be named.
Large team moves by expansionist foreign banks are becoming an increasing important feature of Australia’s comparatively small investment banking world. The recruiter says the BoA-Merrill poaching is already causing “a chain of displacements and hires”.
And more hiring is on the cards as the firm looks to expand its market share. Australia chief executive officer Craig Drummond, who formerly led local rival Goldman Sachs JBWere, has told Bloomberg that he wants extra bankers and analysts in order to regain a top-three position in domestic i-banking, a feat his new firm has not achieved since 2002.
“It would be no surprise to see Merrill Lynch resemble Drummond’s old firm. This might next manifest as a more aggressive push to get M&A bankers,” says the recruiter.
Another headhunter we spoke to has also heard rumours of M&A expansion and suggests that the firm will likely be in the market for professionals with research and sales capabilities.
But Drummond says future additions won’t always feature entire teams. He told Bloomberg: “Putting bums on seats is not the right way to run a strategy. I wouldn’t expect to see us hiring hundreds of people. I would expect you’ll see us continue to hire across most parts of our business.”
BoA-Merrill started getting pushy in August last year when it hired the entire nine-strong UBS property team.
they have a lot of history in Oz to patch up – give it 3 years & will be a mess again. the bank buys in 2nd rate talent rather than train & build a powerful business – politics & in fighting by the new golden hair crew bring it all apart in a few years