Morning Coffee: Bank announces M&A push. Meet the super-employable bankers aged 45+
European M&A hasn't been good this year - deals are down around 7% versus 2012 according to Dealogic. Nonetheless, Japanese Bank Mizuho Securities may be hiring.
Hiroshi Motoyama, Mizuho Securities' president and chief executive, told the Financial Times that Mizuho plans to, 'push into the mergers and acquisitions advisory business dominated by European and US banks.' There was no mention of recruitment, but we assume Motoyama will need to hire some rainmakers if he wants to make any progress. Before M&A bankers get too excited, however, it's worth bearing in mind that Japanese banks are notoriously slow when it comes to implementing strategy decisions. Nor is Motoyama's declaration anything new: Mizuho said it wanted to hire senior M&A bankers in Europe and the U.S. in January, but there's been little sign of any recruitment since.
Separately, some ex-bank employees may consider themselves washed up at 45-50, but this is absolutely not the case if you've spent two decades working in prime broking at Goldman Sachs. Last week, we were first to report that J.P. Morgan had hired John Delaney, a prime broking specialist who'd spent over 20 years at Goldman. Today, Bloomberg reports that Citigroup is also expanding its prime brokerage business and has hired David Tenney. Tenney also passed more than 20 years in prime broking at Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is the world's leading prime broking firm, making its veteran staff popular with rivals who want to increase their market share. We don't know the ages of Delaney and Tenney, but their decades of experience suggest they're at the upper end of the banking age spectrum. Not everyone need become a sports instructor at 45.
Meanwhile:
Companies are advertising jobs, but aren't bothered about filling them says chairman of Citi's corporate and investment bank. (Bloomberg)
Mr. Martin-Artajo is currently on a long planned vacation and will be returning to the UK as scheduled. (Fast FT)
Companies, including banks, hire lots of locals in Asia but use westerners to manage them. (Wall Street Journal)
Barclays' finance director Chris Lucas may leave earlier than expected for health reasons, leaving bank without him while it raises £6bn. (Guardian)
Three rules for following up with a recruiter. (Daily Muse)
Seven genuine habits of highly successful people. (McSweeney's)
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