If you ask London finance recruiters about the general state of the post-Brexit job market, they’ll all say pretty much the same thing: existing vacancies aren’t being pulled, it’s pretty much business as usual, but the big banks aren’t really hiring. If you want a new job in London now, you need to try a hedge fund, or a boutique, or Jefferies. Jefferies is hiring and it’s hiring heavily, in equities.
In the past few weeks, Jefferies has added five people in London according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Register.
They are: Benjie Creelan-Sandford, a European banks researcher from Nomura (who’d only recently joined from Morgan Stanley before he was made redundant); Jason Doyle, the former head of European cash trading and sales trading at Bernstein; Juliet Gillam, a former consumer sales specialist at Nomura, Tom Halton, a former equity research associate at Morgan Stanley, and Kit Lee, an equity research associate who was previously a summer analyst at Morgan Stanley.
The latest bout of Jefferies hires follow the arrival of ex-Nomura consumer salesman Mark Howden at the bank last month and three other equities hires in May.
Jefferies had a truly awful first quarter in equities sales and trading, with revenues at just $2m, down from $203m one year earlier. However, revenues in the business rebounded to $223m in the quarter to May 31.
While other banks in London are constrained by regulations restricting bonuses, as a smaller player Jefferies is free to pay how it likes. The bank offers all-cash bonuses to City staff, but claws them back if recipients leave within a year.
Related articles:
How to land a London banking job nowFinding a job this summer just got harder. That doesn't make it impossible.
A Nomura salesman just joined LiberumNomura let go of 150 equities staff in April. At least 100 have yet to find new jobs.
Seven more of Nomura’s ex-equity researchers are reemployedNomura only let go of its equity researchers a few months ago. They're already finding new jobs.