A former macro portfolio manager at Moore Capital and BlueCrest has joined UBS as a senior LATAM rates and FX trader. Sergio Kostek started at UBS in New York in July as an MD.
Kostek represents the latest buy-side veteran to jump ship for a trading role at an investment bank. Goldman Sachs re-hired former macro prop trader Robert Surgent in June after he spent seven years as a portfolio manager working for Tudor Investment Corp. and Field Street Capital. Recruiters tell us that a bit of a theme has begun to emerge as several PMs have trickled over to the sell-side in the U.S. in recent months.
While the number of traders employed by investment banks will likely continue to shrink due to changes in technology, the current trading environment on the sell-side is improving, at least in the U.S. The Trump administration is relaxing rules on short-term trades at big banks and is rumored to be mulling additional cuts to Volcker Rule that could allow sell-side traders to be more aggressive. Hedge funds, meanwhile, have generally underperformed, with more shops closing than opening each year over the last three. While prop trading is likely never coming back, some of the chains may soon be lifted off traders at big banks in the U.S. Additional poaching from the buy-side could be a result.
Like Surgent, this isn’t Kostek’s first role with an investment bank. He was an MD in charge of LATAM trading at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank before the financial crisis. Finra records confirm that Kostek is currently registered with UBS.
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