As the first quarter draws to a close, who's been hired by leading U.S. investment banks in the City of London over the past four weeks? And what do these new recruits say about your own chances of getting a new job soon?
We looked at all the people Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) and Morgan Stanley registered with the UK Financial Services Authority over the past month. The most interesting additions are detailed below.
Goldman registered Mikhail Galkin as an employee of its London office on March 17th. Galkin previously spent six years working for VTB Capital, the Russian bank which is thought to be in the process of cutting some of its staff. Galkin's job title at Goldman is unclear.
Conclusion: Yes, you can still get into Goldman Sachs when you have some experience. Even if that experience is at a Russian firm that's in cost-cutting mode.
BAML just picked up Ryan Murphy as head of its EMEA central banks desk. Murphy left Nomura in October 2014, and appears to have taken six months out.
Conclusion: BAML is hiring for its markets business. And it's hiring at a senior level. It's possible that it even bought Murphy out.
Morgan Stanley just registered Lawrence Hume from Goldman Sachs. At Goldman, Hume was an equity derivatives trader. At Morgan Stanley,he's working in 'automated market making.' The latter sounds less interesting than the former, but maybe Hume knows something we don't.
Conclusion: If you want to get into a top US investment bank, it helps to be working for a competitor.
Goldman Sachs registered Joanna Tucka on March 5th. Tucka previously worked for Terra Firma, the private equity fund run by Guy Hands. Her role at Goldman is unclear.
Conclusion: Not everyone is getting out of investment banking and into private equity. Some people are moving the other way.
Bank of America just hired Tobias Bayerl as an analyst on its European structured finance team. Bayerl previously spent a year and a half working for Fitch in Frankfurt.
Conclusion: You can still make a double move (sector and country). And as structured finance heats up, banks are recruiting from ratings agencies again - much as they did in 2006 and 2007.
BAML just hired Ron Jarosinski as an analyst on distressed and special situations for its credit trading desk. Jarosinski's LinkedIn profile suggests he last worked for hedge fund ArteFact Partners LLP in 2013.
Conclusion: You can get a trading job with BAML if you haven't worked for two years. Not everyone who's worked for a hedge fund wants to stay there.