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.

Viewings at Canary Wharf double

Economic recovery has led to a doubling of viewings of vacant space at London’s Canary Wharf complex by prospective tenants in the first half of this year compared with the previous six months, according to its landlord Songbird Estates, the UK-listed property company.

Leasing proposals have been made to 24 companies in the three months to June. Seven comprised inquiries for more than 100,000 sq ft, six for 30,000-100,000 sq ft and 11 for less than 30,000 sq ft.

Wells Fargo European DCM head leaves role

Bryant Owens, head of European debt capital markets and syndicate for the Emea region at US bank Wells Fargo, is leaving the bank’s London office after nine years to return to his native Charlotte, North Carolina

Owens will continue to work for the bank, where he will have responsibility for expanding coverage of depository institutions in the financial institutions group of the bank’s investment banking and capital markets division.

Wharrier back to BlackRock

UK equity manager Mark Wharrier has quit Stephen Zimmerman’s NewSmith Capital Partners to return to his old stamping ground.

He left Merrill Lynch Investment Partners nine years ago to work with his former MLIM colleague Steve Thompson, leader of NewSmith’s UK equity team, and associate Richard Milliken.
The team played a key role in driving NewSmith’s growth and currently manages £1 billion. Sumitomo Trust and Banking of Japan purchased a 40% stake in New Smith in 2011.

Top rates strategist swaps Morgan Stanley for BNP Paribas

Morgan Stanley global head of rates strategy, Laurence Mutkin, has left the investment bank to join BNP Paribas, Financial News has learnt.

Mutkin left the bank on July 4, according to the UK's Financial Services Register. He was a frequent commentator in the press for Morgan Stanley and spent seven years at the firm. He is set to join BNP Paribas, according to a person familiar with the situation, however his role at the French bank is unknown.

Absolute return duo departs RWC

Absolute return duo departs RWC

 Peter Allwright and Stuart Frost, portfolio managers hired by RWC Partners in 2010 to bolster its absolute return business, have left.

 Both joined the boutique from rival Threadneedle and worked in rates and currencies, managing the RWC Cautious Absolute Rate & Currency fund. They left in March, an RWC spokesman said.
Allwright has joined Nomura, according to the UK’s Financial Services Register, returning to a bank where he previously worked as a proprietary trader. A spokeswoman for Nomura declined to comment.

3i shares hit four-year high

3i shares hit four-year high

3i Group’s shares closed at a four-year high on Wednesday as investors continue to buy into the company’s turnaround plan. The rise came on the same day that Europe's main listed private equity index reached to its highest level since 2007.

Shares in 3i closed the day at 370.9p, their highest level since 2009 at the peak of the credit crisis.

Some analysts pinned the recent gains in 3i’s share price on hopes next week’s first-quarter results will be better than the market expects. The company is also holding its Annual General Meeting on July 18.

The strong performance of 3i’s share has buoyed the listed private sector to a near six-year high.

Stock-picking hedge funds stand out in June

Stock-picking hedge funds stand out in June

Prominent hedge fund managers, whose business is picking the best and worst stocks to invest in, posted gains in June amid the sell-off in global markets.

Blue-chip managers Lansdowne Partners, Egerton Capital, Odey Asset Management, Chilton Investment Company and Horseman Capital Management were among the stock-pickers that made money last month, with many of them profiting from positions in their short book.

A partner at one of the 10 biggest hedge funds in London said: “Managers who are focusing on stock selection seem to be doing pretty well. You’re starting to get good dispersion between stocks.

Global launch of the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2013

Every year some 60 staff members from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the five UN Regional Commissions, as well as most recently the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), work together to produce a joint publication of the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2013 (WESP), the report of the United Nations on the state of the world economy.

EUR/USD Extend Drop for Second Session

EUR/USD extended its yesterday’s drop for the second session today as Forex market participants are still tries to swallow the comments of US policy makers. The data was mixed as the robust housing data and the unexpected expansion of manufacturing did not help the leading index to rise much. What is even more important, unemployment claims rose yet again, suggesting that stable employment growth was not reached yet. This means that an end to quantitative easing will likely be postponed.

Forex Brokers Update

This week has brought one new broker:
Alpha Trading — a shady company of obscure origin. The broker offers MetaTrader 4 accounts starting from $1,000 and provides floating spreads that are rather low. Despite the high minimum account size, micro-trading is enabled. Only Forex instruments (and not too many of them) are available with Alpha Trading.

EUR/USD Reverses Drop After ECB Cuts Interest Rates

Today’s trading session was completely unlike yesterday’s one as all data from the United States was better than expected. The most important event happened in Europe though as the European Central Bank announced its monetary policy decision. Analysts have predicted that the central bank would leave interest rates unchanged, but there were more and more speculations about an interest rate cut as time was passing by and economic reports from the eurozone were coming out rather bad. Such talks proved true and the ECB slashed borrowing costs at today’s meeting. (Event A on the chart.)