Big news! There are 26,000 more financial services jobs in the UK this year than there were last year. So say today’s figures from the UK’s quarterly CBI/PwC survey. Now all that you need to do is to go out and find them. Or not.
The problem with the CBI/PwC survey is that it covers the entire UK financial services industry – not just City-based activities in London. Many of the new jobs it postulates will be for retail bankers in Hull or insurance salespeople in Bristol. There’s no real handle on exactly what’s going on in the City, or how many of these 26,000 new jobs will be based there.
There is, however, some good news from other sources which suggests that City-focused finance jobs might be rising in specific areas. Everyone knows that equities salespeople and traders are having a good start to the year, but just how good is only now being calibrated. Financial News reports that equity trading volumes in Europe are at a three year high and are up 20% on 2013. The Financial Times reports that European investment banking division (M&A, ECM and DCM) fees are finally recovering after the Eurozone crisis and are up 1% year-on-year. Feeble, yes, but the FT quotes Christian Meissner, global head of corporate and investment banking at Bank of America, who says that he expects investment banking fees to orient away from the U.S. and towards Europe in future and that BofA is ‘investing’ in Europe as a result.
Separately, Lucy Kellaway at the Financial Times has come across a study which says you work less hard than you think. People who work 37 hours think they work 40, says the study. The degree of distortion increases exponentially with the number of hours worked: people who work 50 hours claim to work 75. Work has become a badge of honour and long hours have become a signifier of status, says Kellaway. There is no need for banks to offer monthly payments to staff in compensation for reduced bonuses under the EU bonus cap: they just need to ask them to work weekends.
Meanwhile:
Jefferies has hired Bill Bell, a former global head of equities electronic distribution at Barclays. It’s also hired Frank Copplestone, formerly of Morgan Stanley, has global head of structured products. (Financial News)
Gary Cohn: “In a lot of respects, owning equities in the world today seems like the least risky opportunity for cash out there.” (Bloomberg)
Owain Self, UBS’s global head of direct execution services, is leaving UBS. (Financial News)
James Gorman had his pay doubled to $12m for 2013 and it could rise to $18m. (Reuters)
Christopher Marks, the global head of DCM at BNP Paribas, is leaving after 15 years. Suki Mann, global head of credit strategy, is leaving SocGen after 13 years. (Financial News)
Ewen Stevenson, currently co-head of Credit Suisse’s investment banking department in Europe, Middle East and Africa, is in negotiations to join RBS as CFO. Stevenson will be reunited with ex-Credit Suisse colleague James Leigh-Pemberton, who now runs UK Financial Investments which manages the British government’s stake in RBS. (Financial Times)
Stevenson is from New Zealand, like RBS chief executive Ross McEwan. Whilst at Credit Suisse, he devised the RBS asset protection scheme. (The Sunday Times)
Boutiques have together advised on 34% of announced global M&A volume in the year to March 27, up from 31% in the full first quarter last year. (Financial News)
“My expectation is that Barclays will come back and say their size and shape of the investment bank is not appropriate for the business they require.” (Bloomberg)
Intelligent people are more trusting. (The Atlantic)
Ultimately, private banking is all about managing emotions. (Euromoney)
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