In theory, banks aren’t hiring in London: the prospect of a messy rupture from the European Union has diverted energies that would be applied to hiring to scrutinizing which perpetually EU-based cities might be good alternatives if entire business units have to be relocated.
This might be happening, but it isn’t preventing banks from advertising for staff in London. Nor does it mean that every role on offer in the City is swamped with hundreds of over-qualified candidates. There are some roles that banks can’t seem to fill – roles that have been open for months and months, even prior to the referendum…
1. Goldman Sachs can’t find enough strats in London
Goldman Sachs is pretty unique among banks for employing a huge (huge) army of quants to make sense of the data generated by everything it does. These quants are known in Goldman parlance as ‘strats’ and they come in various flavours. Strats at Goldman can be anything from quants to quant developers, technologists, structurers and salespeople. Usually, however, they’re there to crunch data in some way – and if they’re in London, they’re usually crunching data for the front office.
Right now, Goldman Sachs has around seven strats roles open in London. Two of them have been open since May. The firm is looking for a strat to work on its equities delta one desk (who can use ‘technical skills to deliver high quality solutions direct to clients’), along with a strat to join the equities structuring team (providing ‘bespoke quantitative solutions’ to clients’ requests). The latter strat will need a PhD.
2. Morgan Stanley can’t find an investment banking analyst 2 in Warsaw
Warsaw is the place to be. So says Poland’s deputy prime minister, who told the Financial Times this week that he’s having meetings with Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi and Credit Suisse about shunting middle and back office jobs over there. This may be so, but Morgan Stanley for one is hiring front office investment bankers in Poland. The U.S bank is looking for a second year analyst to, ‘create and analyse financial models’ and ‘create, draft, and take ownership of presentations’ in Warsaw.
Unfortunately, it can’t seem to find one: it’s been looking since early June.
3. J.P. Morgan can’t find a utilities equity researcher in London
The utilities sector is going through a period of upheaval. In the year to mid-July, utilities M&A deals were up 167% on the previous year. Banks are beefing up their equity research teams ahead of MiFID II and utilities research is one of their areas of focus – Goldman Sachs, for example, took a utilities researcher from UBS back in May.
Good utilities researchers may be hard to come by, however: J.P. Morgan has been advertising for an executive director-level researcher for its utilities team since June.
4. Deutsche Bank can’t find enough model validators in London
Forget front office jobs in investment banks: the jobs banks really need to fill now – and can’t – are in middle office model validation. Under the hotch potch of new regulations becoming known as Basel IV, banks’ ability to use their own risk models is set to be limited for calculations of credit risk capital. At the same time, the Federal Reserve’s ongoing Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review requires banks to prove that the risk models they use have been developed ‘in accordance with supervisory expectations,’ and existing Basel III regulations stipulate that banks’ internal risk models must adhere to ‘the fundamentals of internal modeling governance.’
The upshot is an explosion in demand for model validation talent, with banks looking for model validators wherever they can find them. As we noted earlier this month, a former equity derivatives researcher at Citi has taken a model review at J.P. Morgan.
Deutsche Bank has been looking for a deputy head of model risk governance since earlier this month. That’s nothing though: it’s had several model validation roles open for three months or more.
5. And nor can UBS, or Barclays…
Deutsche Bank is not alone in seeking out model validators. UBS is after them too It’s been looking for a quantatitve risk specialist to work on model validation methodologies for a while (it doesn’t say how long). And Barclays, which has got a hiring freeze in its investment bank and as such is advertising almost no jobs for the business whatsoever, has nonetheless been looking for a ‘model developer for wholesale’ since June 27th.
6. Credit Suisse can’t find an operational risk director in Dublin
Credit Suisse is being busy in Dublin. The Swiss bank is in the process of cutting thousands of jobs in London and hiring hundreds of people in Dublin. Hiring in Dublin can be easier said than done, however. Dublin is not London: there is not a deep pool of global talent waiting to be sieved. Is Credit Suisse having trouble finding people in Dublin? Possibly: it’s been advertising for an operational risk director in the Irish City since July.
7. Citi can’t find a Delta One trader in Mauritius
Lastly, you’d think traders might jump at the opportunity to live and work in Mauritius. Citi’s experience suggests otherwise. The US bank has a Delta One trading team based in Mauritius, working across pan-Asian markets. It’s been trying to find a graduate-level Delta One trader with ‘strong math and programming skills’ to join the team since June, seemingly without success.
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Contact: SButcher@eFinancialCareers.com
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Photo credit: Vacant by Bill Smith is licensed under CC BY 2.0.