Top SocGen equity derivatives salesman said to join J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan has reportedly recruited Alexandre Houpert from SocGen. Headhunters say Houpert has joined the U.S. bank as head of pan-European retail structured product sales. The role didn't previously exist as J.P. Morgan had separate country heads covering the European retail market.

J.P. Morgan and Houpert declined to comment.

Equity derivatives businesses are not performing in 2016 - J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank all highlighted the dire performance of equity derivatives franchises when they announced their first quarter results. However, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and structured investment solutions listed on exchanges - are doing just fine and this is what Houpert specializes in. He joined the French bank in 2004 and was made head of cross asset retail distribution in Europe in May 2015.

J.P. Morgan entered the European ETF market late, through its asset management arm, in June 2014. In April, it announced plans to acquire a minority stake in Global X, the exchange traded fund provider.  In recent years, J.P. Morgan has focused on growing its equities sales and trading business and is now one of the top banks in the sector according to data provider Coalition.