Deutsche Bank isn't the only German still hiring
Deutsche Bank has expressed its intention of continuing to hire investment bankers irrespective of the glitches in deal flow, but it's not the only German bank 'leaning in' to a challenging market. Berenberg, the privately owned German bank is out there recruiting too.
Berenberg has added at least 26 people this year, including a head of UK M&A in a newly created role and healthcare and technology bankers in New York. In equity research, it's hired Mark Palmer from BTIG to cover fintech and digital assets in New York and Aron Ceccarelli to cover chemicals from Lazard, among others. In sales trading the new recruits include: Lucas Beseme from Kepler Cheuvreux in Paris, Giles Johnston, the former head of trading at Liberum in London, and Gregory Prime from Wells Fargo in NY (prime was reportedly fired from WF last August for allegedly instructing employees to delete business communications, although an internal review found they didn't obey his instruction).
The additions follow a round of layoffs and spate of voluntary exits after Berenberg cut bonuses for senior staff last year. Sources at the bank say there have been further exits this week as Ben May, head of the UK mid-cap TMT team quit along with team members. However, including May only three director-level people have left so far this year.
Laura Janssens, head of European equities at Berenberg, says the bank moved early to "right size" its cost base in 2022, and is now seeing the benefits of this as other banks begin doing the same. "In my 12 years at Berenberg I can’t remember a time when there were so many talented people open to discussions about joining," she adds. "We are uniquely positioned as a mid-size, independent, pan-European, research focused IB."
The people who've left Berenberg are turning up in big jobs elsewhere. As we noted previously, Johnny Smith, a former TMT salesperson has gone to hedge fund Millennium. Sarah Simon, a media analyst who spent 12 years at the German bank has just joined Morgan Stanley in London.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available (Telegram: @SarahButcher)
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
