Deutsche Bank hired a JPMorgan strat amidst alleged exits
Depending upon who you listen to, there may be some disgruntlement afoot in the Deutsche Bank strats team in London. People have allegedly been leaving, pay was allegedly not that great, promotions were allegedly not entirely impartial.
It's not clear how valid these complaints are. Deutsche isn't commenting on the grumbling, but we understand that fewer than 2% of the Deutsche strats globally have left so far this year, which doesn't sound very much like a wave of departures. Nonetheless, insiders say that many resignations are in process and that the bank needs to hire to some new people soon.
One of those new hires has already arrived. Deutsche's London office has just hired Gurjot Singh for its debt team. Singh is joining from JPMorgan, where he latterly worked in Mumbai for three years after previously spending another three years at Kolkata-based Quant One Technologies.
Singh's arrival comes after Deutsche cut a handful of people in its 700 person strats team last year. It also comes after insiders said the strats team was moved within the purview of Deutsche's chief risk officer, with the result that it became seen more as a middle office than a front office function. "Pay is not competitive, and we haven't been given an inflation adjustment despite the current market conditions," alleges one grumbling insider, who says exits have been happening as a result and that new recruits are hard to find.
Given the apparent stability of DB's team, the grumbling may be exaggerated, or it may be that resignations have yet to take place. Another insider said that senior members of the strats team were protected in the recent bonus round, and that it was juniors who were most aggrieved. There are claims that Deutsche only pays-up in the form of counteroffers when people resign.
Deutsche's strats business globally is run by David Wayne, a former head of FX, who took over when Sam Wisnia left for Eisler Capital in 2018.
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