Trading Places: The week's biggest moves

Financial News presents a round-up of the week's top hires and job switches in the financial services industry.

The chief executive of Nomura’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who took up the role some 18 months ago, has stepped down. Jeremy Bennett, who replaced industry veteran John Phizackerley in April last year, handed in his notice last week. He is leaving to pursue other opportunities in the charitable sector and in emerging markets, according to an internal memo seen by Financial News.

Pimco suffers €11bn leak in Europe

Investors pulled €11.2 billion from Pimco’s European funds in September and October on the heels of Bill Gross’s departure, according to new figures from investment research firm Morningstar.

 Of the total, €8.7 billion flowed out of Pimco’s fund range in Europe during October, the highest ever level of outflows in a one-month period in the region, according to Morningstar.

Morningstar’s figures factor in net flows across all share classes in Pimco’s European-domiciled funds. The data provider tracks net flows at a slight lag to figures from the firm itself, which typically reflect redemption requests as they are logged.

Thomson Reuters to suspend tracking of exchanges’ market share

Thomson Reuters is to suspend a closely-watched data tool that tracks equities trading on exchanges and other venues globally, after issues with the accuracy of the product emerged last month.

The data vendor confirmed to Financial News that its European Market Share Reporter, or EMSR product, would be suspended this afternoon. It is expected to be fully closed by Monday morning.
It said it expected to a release a "new proprietary and equivalent capability" in the first quarter of 2015 and would communicate with its users in due course on the exact timeframe.

The service provides market share statistics from competing equity venues across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. It has a wide customer base and is often cited in journals, independent reports and by regulators, including the European Securities and Markets Authority. The data was used by a number of firms to support their responses to an Esma consultation on Mifid II that was held over the summer.

Rankin to exit Deutsche Bank

The co-head of corporate banking and securities at Deutsche Bank will leave the bank in January – the third announcement of a change within the German bank's top ranks in the last fortnight.

Rob Rankin will leave the bank in January to become chief executive of Consolidated Press Holdings, the Australian holding company that has investments in the media and entertainment sector.

Deutsche Bank announced the departure of Rob Rankin, who has been in his current role since June 2012, in a statement this afternoon. He had joined the bank in 2009 from UBS as chief executive, Asia Pacific (ex-Japan). His impending departure was first reported by Bloomberg.
Rankin co-leads the investment banking division with Colin Fan, focusing on corporate finance. The bank said that a replacement for Rankin would be named in due course.

Trading Places: The week's biggest moves

Financial News presents a round-up of the week's top hires and job switches in the financial services industry.

Deutsche Börse

Carsten Kengeter, the former head of UBS’s investment banking arm, will return to the financial services industry next summer to lead German exchange Deutsche Börse.

Kengeter, who has been out of the industry since leaving UBS last summer, is to replace Reto Francioni in June next year after Deutsche Börse’s AGM, according to a statement from Deutsche Börse.


Kengeter had previously spent more than a decade in a variety of fixed income, currencies and commodities roles at Goldman Sachs.

Venture capital catches a cure

Venture capital in the region has returned to rude health – with the buoyant market for listings that persisted for much of 2014 the best medicine

European venture capital investment has had its strongest quarter for 13 years. In the third quarter, €2.3 billion was invested in 323 deals, according to Dow Jones VentureSource data, up 36% on the same quarter last year. Investor confidence has been boosted by the strength of the exit market.

Spilling over: The winners from auto-enrolment

Private sector pensions providers, led by the UK’s big insurance companies, have won hundreds of thousands of new customers from the UK’s auto-enrolment reforms, according to Financial News research.

Many new savers have enrolled into the National Employment Savings Trust, the government’s public scheme, but about two-thirds have joined private schemes.
Two years on from the start of the government’s reforms, 4.7 million new savers have joined the pensions industry.

Pensions minister Steve Webb hailed the figures as a “huge success” during his address to the National Association of Pension Funds’ conference in Liverpool last week. The Pensions Regulator’s numbers lag those of some of the pension providers.

Profits power to record at Trinity Street

Rising stock markets and surging asset inflows helped power profits at London-based global and international specialist equity manager Trinity Street Asset Management to £9 million in the 12 months to the end of March - more than the combined profits in the previous decade since its launch.

Revenues at Trinity Street, which was set up in December 2002 by former GLG manager Richard Bruce, nearly trebled in its latest 12-month reporting period from £4.1 million in the previous year to £11.1 million, according to the firm's latest accounts filed at Companies House.

Profits surged to £9 million, up from £3 million a year earlier, helped by the surge in revenues. That exceeds the £8.9 million in cumulative profits generated by the equities manager since its launch, according to an analysis of Companies House accounts.

Bill Gates calls on payment systems to lower costs

Bill Gates has said that digital payment systems have the power to lift billions of people out of poverty, but transaction costs must be lowered to enable the technology to realise its potential.

The Microsoft founder and chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told a packed audience of thousands at the closing of the Sibos Conference in Boston that emerging markets must take the lead in harnessing this technology.
“We think that digital payment systems can do more for equity in poor countries than they can do anywhere else,” Gates said. “This is not a case of waiting for trickle down like we do for much advanced technology.”
The idea that digital payments systems can gain faster and greater adoption in developing economies has been gaining traction across the financial and technology industry in recent years. Many believe that the lack of financial infrastructure in developing countries, which has traditionally acted as a barrier for financial inclusion, means people will be more likely to adopt newer more innovative systems.