UK
Sector: Trading
LEX VAN DAM: It is a massacre out there
I have been a trader for nearly two decades and I have never ever seen so many traders lose their jobs or give up as in the last few weeks. Investment banks and brokers have suddenly begun shrinking their workforce en masse. The opportunities for banks to make money have been reduced dramatically and they [...]
This is the recommended reading if you want a career in high frequency trading
Trading in investment banks is foundering due to the Volcker Rule. Hedge funds are having a bad year due to bad markets. But high speed trading is expected to grow. Even though this week’s leaked MiFid II document suggests high speed trading will be regulated in future, high speed trading remains a growth market. A [...]
WHERE THERE IS DEFINITELY STILL HIRING CURRENTLY: Delta One
We touched upon the relative hotness of investment banks’ Delta One desks a few months ago, but in a world where front office hiring has drastically retracted, it remains an area of recruitment. More cash equity traders and sales traders are eyeing a switch across. Recruitment sources suggest that the likes of Citigroup, BoA Merrill [...]
INTERN DIARIES: Contrasting fortunes; tales of rising optimism and increasing despair over full-time job offers
The interns chronicling their time at an investment bank this summer on our student centre are now reaching the end of their time there. As crunch time looms, the all important presentation to the business is on the horizon. Both diarists have been working around the clock, but one fares better than the other. You [...]
Is Glencore a little less attractive now?
Glencore has released its interim results this morning and provided some much needed cheer for the markets. Profits are up by 57%, even in the face of volatile trading conditions, and the outlook for commodities, it says, is rosy. All very good. Yet under the potential risks to its business, the firm has highlighted that [...]
Prop traders’ hedge fund spin-offs are beginning to expand
Investment banks’ star traders are leaving to set up hedge funds. Last week it was Todd Edgar and his team from BarCap and this week Citigroup’s Sutesh Sharma unveiled plans to go it alone as the bank winds down its prop trading activities. These are high profile examples, but this trend is nothing new. The [...]
Late Lunchtime Links: These are the Chinese firms which will be hiring you soon
First, BarCap decided London-based commodities trader Todd Edgar was surplus to its current requirements. Now JPMorgan has been found to have transferred various commodities traders to Singapore. Bloomberg says JPMorgan has covertly moved Will Shropshire, its global head of agricultural commodities trading from London to Singapore in order to increase its focus on Asia. It’s [...]
Todd Edgar’s 50% BarCap package was unsustainable, but don’t assume you will ever achieve anything better at a hedge fund
Poor Todd Edgar. Poor Todd Edgar’s team. In 2009 all 5 of them joined BarCap for what was reputedly a 30m two year package comprised of: – 15m in salaries, bonuses and deferred stock – A share of up to 50% of their profits At the time, it looked like a great deal, both for [...]
Q&A: J.P.Morgan’s David Sayer, head of Asia equities trading and execution
Q: What made you want to become a trader as opposed to another banking position? A: I got my start in banking when I was just 18, heading straight to the City of London in 1995 after completing college. I was an A-level trainee at a J.P. Morgan heritage firm Robert Fleming & Co. I [...]
Just how hard will HSBC’s investment bank be hit by the planned 30k job cuts?
HSBC has kick-started what is likely to be another bleak week for banking job prospects by saying that it’s cutting 5,000 jobs this year (700 in the UK) and another 25,000 by 2013 as it looks to save $2.5-3bn in costs. This is around 10% of the bank’s current headcount. In some ways, this is [...]
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