eFinancialCareers

The ranks of Charter Financial Analysts in Canada are growing. More than 9,990 are registered to take the CFA exam in June, up 68 percent from 5,914 in 2006. Bob Johnson, deputy chief executive of the non-profit CFA Institute, says that's a sign of growing interest in the certification by employers, and the greater availability of training at colleges. Moreover, Johnson says, the number of candidates taking the exam for the... Read more

Lehman Brothers announced its second top-level Middle East appointment in a month, naming Philip Lynch as chief executive officer for the Middle East and North Africa. Lynch, who co-led Lehman's equities business in Europe and the Middle East, will relocate from London to Dubai. The other equities co-head, Rachid Bouzouba, was named sole head of equities for Europe and the Middle East. The bank's current Middle East CEO, Jameel Akhrass,... Read more

JPMorgan's chief takes a prominent role in a major campaign aimed at persuading other institutions to hire displaced Bear Stearns staffers. Pyramis, Fidelity's institutional division, is aggressively hiring investment managers. KKR is seeking infrastructure investing and operating managers to join its new team headed by Lazard's former global infrastructure chief. *** JPMorgan Chase is conducting an outplacement effort on an unprecedented scale, as its chief executive and an in-house team reportedly approach... Read more

A revised economic analysis by a New York City agency forecasts that the city's financial services job losses will total 33,300 from late 2007 through mid-2009 – including 17,300 jobs in the more narrowly defined "securities" industry. Those numbers are dwarfed by the amount of job cuts already announced by Wall Street and big European banks, which exceed 60,000. They're also well below the 41,300 New York City jobs erased by... Read more

Media reports this week indicate Lehman Brothers recently began laying off an estimated 1,400 people or about 5 percent of its worldwide work force. The reduction appears come on top of a reduction of identical proportions the firm reportedly carried out in March. The March reports of a mass layoff from Lehman were never officially confirmed. The latest round of job cuts "are expected to affect all divisions of the company... Read more

When it comes to working with search firms, "when and if" are just as important as "how." Retained search firms are appropriate vehicles for candidates seeking a "career lateral" - a position whose responsibilities and pay are similar to the job they currently have, says Ann S. Boland, an executive recruiter in the Washington, D.C., area. However, if you've previously performed the role but aren't doing so currently, or if you... Read more

JPMorgan Chase is conducting an outplacement effort on an unprecedented scale, as its chief executive and an in-house team reportedly approach hundreds of companies about hiring some 5,000 Bear Stearns workers who will become casualties of the banks' pending combination. The campaign could become a template for how both JPMorgan and the rest of Wall Street will manage the impact of future major mergers and layoffs, the Financial Times reports in... Read more

Dumpsters suddenly show up outside your office. Your corporate email stops working. A customer mentions that you're being replaced. The boss calls with bad news while you're recovering from surgery. These are among the practices banks resort to these days to inform individual human resources that they are no longer considered resources. As Wall Street firms downsize in a series of waves, the New York Times reports that managements are concealing... Read more

Buyout kingpin Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is on the prowl for people who know how to select and manage infrastructure investments. KKR hired Lazard's global infrastructure chief George Bilicic to lead the new initiative, the private equity firm said in a press release Friday. In addition, "KKR is building an investment team to focus specifically on global infrastructure opportunities and will work with Mr. Bilicic to identify highly experienced investment... Read more

Would you call a prospective employer 63 times if your calls weren't picked up or returned? How about 24 times over a two-year period? If you fear being that persistent will cost you an opportunity, you're in for a shock. In at least two instances cited by career experts recently, candidates who did not persist to that degree would have lost opportunities. "I have a client who called an employer contact 63... Read more

Citigroup's turnaround strategy will merge duplicative data centers. UBS is cutting 2,600 jobs from its investment bank, and plans to eliminate 5,500 jobs company-wide by mid-2009. *** Achieving operational efficiencies - which inevitably means further headcount reductions - form the core of Citigroup's three-year turnaround strategy, unveiled Friday by Chief Executive Vikram Pandit. While Pandit didn't say how many more positions would bite the dust, he and top aides left little... Read more

If you think Wall Street was stingy at bonus time last year, brace yourself: 2008 is on track to be far worse, according to a top compensation consultant's latest soundings of its blue-chip client base. Johnson Associates is projecting smaller departmental bonus pools this year across each of the 12 business areas examined in its first-quarter compensation trends report. Company wide average bonuses are seen shrinking between 15 percent and 35... Read more

Natsource, an investment firm focused on renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions, named three ex-Bear Stearns managers to head its efforts in risk management, marketing and compliance. All had worked within Bear Stearns Asset Management (BSAM). John Geissinger became chief risk officer, a spokeswoman for New York-based Natsource told Pensions & Investments. Geissinger was chief invesment officer in Bear's investment management subsidiary. Evan Kerr, who was a managing director and... Read more

JPMorgan could be the next bank to unveil a large-scale layoff, and it won't be confined to employees of the newly acquired Bear Stearns, a published report said. Citing unnamed sources, Reuters reported Wednesday that absorbing Bear Stearns will displace some 2,000 current JPMorgan employees. What's more, market-driven cutbacks could claim an additional 1,000 to 2,000 JPMorgan jobs in coming weeks, Reuters said. Both the merger-related and market-related cuts are expected to... Read more

As many as 6,000 of Bear Stearns' 14,000 employees reportedly have been offered jobs by new owner JPMorgan Chase & Co. But for thousands of technology and operations staffers whose fate remains up in the air, the outlook is gloomy. "The remaining roughly 3,500 employees will learn their fates in the next two weeks," Reuters reported late Monday. "These staffers, mostly in technology and operations, and will likely see a lower... Read more

The latest in a string of former Goldman Sachs executives to join the firm's inner circle, Peter S. Kraus was named executive vice president of Merrill Lynch, and will oversee business strategy and investments, global growth and corporate acquisitions. Kraus worked 22 years at Goldman, serving as co-head of investment management, a member of the management committee, and head of firm-wide strategy. He also co-led Goldman's financial institutions group until 2001,... Read more