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Jefferies is enjoying unprecedented success in EMEA as it exploits dislocation among European rivals to snap up staff. But the US bank's hard-driving performance culture is not for everyone, writes David Rothnie.
The anonymous mutineers purporting to work in HSBC’s investment banking department vented their spleen on the unit’s management team, but it wasn’t just the people in HSBC they had a problem with; it was where they were heading to and the destination of a trio of senior UK bankers led by Philip Noblet that was a source of particular anguish.
“Does senior group management simply not understand the level of embarrassment and the explicit indictment where this group of UK M&A bankers has quit HSBC for Jefferies? What does this say?” they wrote.
It says that for bankers with strong relationships and a thirst for deal making, money talks. This month Jefferies continued its expansion with the launch of a European real estate, gaming, lodging and leisure sector team, hiring a four-strong team from Deutsche Bank led by Rishi Bhuchar. In total, Jefferies has recruited 16 managing directors to its EMEA investment banking business since the beginning of 2017.
Noblet will join in November with a remit to boost its UK M&A business, along with fellow former HSBC colleagues James Thompson and Paul Bundred. In 2013, Jefferies purchased Hoare Govett, the blue-chip corporate broking business of Royal Bank of Scotland and Noblet’s mission will be to convert those relationships into deals.
What is less clear is whether Noblet, a highly experienced banker whose career has included spells at Lehman Brothers and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is truly prepared for Jefferies’ unique culture.
As someone whom Jefferies has wanted to hire for a while, he will already be familiar with the firm’s approach to recruitment.
The bank’s European head of investment banking Dominic Lester spends time identifying the right candidates, selected for their sector knowledge, client relationships and hands-on deal making skills. But the closing of each senior hire is handled by New York-based global investment banking head Ben Lorello, who according to one banker, pursues them with almost missionary zeal and a significant inducement — a high initial salary and bonus as well as, in some cases, a share of...