Banks launch FIG recruitment drive

Investment banks and boutiques are actively seeking senior financial institutions bankers and teams following a shake-up of the industry, write Liam Vaughan and Harry Wilson

Top 5

Global players such as Barclays Capital and Lazard are competing to sign up senior financial institution group bankers with boutiques including Evercore and Moelis & Co as demand for financial services specialists outstrips supply.

FIG is the biggest fee earner for investment banks in Europe. According to Dealogic, fees from FIG in Europe stand at USD6.9bn for the year to date and represent 42 percent of the total fee pool. That is the highest proportion of total fees since the start of this decade. In the 12 months to the end of 2000 they were just 26 percent.

Financial institution work tends to be more specialised than many other areas of investment banking and so it is harder for banks to move staff from other businesses to plug gaps or grow a team organically.

Stéphane Rambosson, a partner at executive search firm Veni Partners and a former senior banker at Schroders and Citigroup, said: “There simply aren’t that many senior FIG bankers out there and this is likely to be a problem for anyone looking to build up in the market. Those that want to get into this business are going to have to look slightly off the beaten track to find the right people.”

Barclays Capital is looking to build a European financial institutions business and has hired Sheffield Haworth to line up potential candidates. Lazard has mandated headhunter Blackwood to help it find a replacement for FIG specialist John Hack, who left to become a partner at Clive Cowdery investment vehicle Resolution in June.

Speaking to Financial News earlier this year John Hack said: “There is a huge opportunity in FIG over the next two to five years and banks are keen to reshuffle their FIG teams in expectation of that. There is a lot of restructuring to do as global banking redefines itself. Winners will buy losers, some banks may break up and there will be large-scale restructuring, all of which has increased demand for FIG specialists.”

Jefferies, Fox-Pitt Kelton, Greenhill and Fenchurch Advisory Partners are also in the market for FIG bankers, according to bankers and recruiters.

As the dust settles after the financial crisis, bankers expect insurance companies, asset managers, banks and other financial companies to require advice on restructuring, raising cash and buying and selling businesses.

Mark Aedy, head of boutique Moelis & Co in European, hired former colleague Caroline Silver to build a FIG practice from scratch in July. Aedy said: “FIG represents a significant proportion of the total fee pool and there is every reason why it will continue to be a very active sector.”

Malik Karim, managing director and co-founder of London-based financial services advisory boutique Fenchurch Advisory Partners, believes boutiques have an edge at the moment.

Karim said: “While competition may appear tough for hiring, proven FIG bankers appreciate that clients are looking for real expertise, depth and recent track record. Joining an established boutique with momentum and critical mass is preferable to joining a start-up or dysfunctional unit in an integrated bank.”

Other banks may be looking to fill the gaps after their top FIG bankers left to join rivals. In September Stefano Marsaglia left Rothschild to join Barclays Capital as global chairman of FIG, while Citigroup lost former global co-head of FIG Chris Williams to Credit Suisse in May.