Deutsche Bank has some holes in its US credit trading team
As Deutsche Bank proceeds with its investment banker recruitment binge, picking up bargain talent everywhere from Credit Suisse to Morgan Stanley, it may want to turn its attention to trader hiring too. The German bank’s US credit trading team is looking a little threadbare.
Last week’s exit of ex-Credit Suisse trader Brian Connors for Mizuho isn’t Deutsche’s only recent credit departure in New York. Sources say there have been multiple exits from the business.
They include Alex Giannou, the former co-head of the institutional client group for the Americas, who left in May after nearly two decades with the bank and is understood to be back in Greece. Jeff Horan, an investment grade credit trader who joined in 2014 from Goldman Sachs is also understood to have left recently.
Deutsche Bank isn’t commenting, but sources say the bank is in the market for some new US traders. This reflects both the exits and areas of weakness in the US business.
Deutsche’s credit trading business globally is run by Chetankumar (Chetan) Shah, its publicity shy vegetarian veteran trader based in Singapore. The bank’s US fixed incone trading business as a whole is run by Chris Leonard, who joined from Barclays in 2020 and is focused on macro, and Riddhi Barma, who focuses on credit and financing. North American credit trading is run by Dan Crowley, who came from BNP Paribas in December 2021; Barclays veteran Anil Atluri joined as head of its institutional client group in the Americas in January 2023.
In a good year, credit trading is one of Deutsche Bank’s major revenue generators. Last year, however, was not a good year. Overall, fixed income sales and trading revenues at the bank were up 26%, but this was mainly by virtue of macro and emerging markets teams. Credit sales and trading revenues fell and sources claim that US high yield and investment grade revenues in particular plummeted.
The first half of 2023 hasn’t been great for fixed income traders anywhere. However, Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said last month that conditions are looking up for the second half. As a result, the bank is understood to be strengthening its desk; new high yield talent may be a priority, but there are also investment grade openings following the exits of Connors and Horan.
Photo by Valentin Lacoste on Unsplash
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