So you work somewhere in the middle office (risk/finance/trade support), and you want to work somewhere in the front office (sales/trading/structuring)? What do you need to do to your CV to make this happen? Firstly, a qualifying point. It is not that easy to move into the front office from a middle office role. It is especially hard if you are attempting to do so on the basis of sending your... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 10 Jun 2010 - 7 comments
An article was published on this site recently which attested to the ‘hotness of CIMA students in the current market’. It also questioned CIMA’s fit with the financial services industry. The article generated a large number of comments in protest. CIMA welcomes this opportunity to set the record straight and give the reasons why many leading employers in investment banking consider CIMA ideal for working in finance. As many of... Read more
By Annette Heninger, Press Officer , Cima 08 Jun 2010 - 7 comments
Having completed nearly 3 years in valuations at a Big 4, I’m exploring my options and am not quite sure how to progress. I’m interested in a broader role which encapsulates analysis, decision making and the possibility of financial incentives. I’ve worked in financial services and have good experience in valuing banks and PE investments. I have sent off my CV for a few jobs speculatively in VC / investment... Read more
Anonymous 16 Apr 2010 - 12 comments
If you want to go into trading, but you didn’t manage to get a position as a trader straight out of university, you may be feeling a little thwarted. Most banks hire fewer MBAs into sales and trading positions than into M&A or capital markets, so it can be difficult to ride the top business school route into trading. Fortunately, there are other less expensive paths to the trading desk.... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 23 Mar 2010 - 21 comments
To the layman, product control doesn’t look particularly exciting. After all, who would be inclined to spend their days totting up the P&Ls of irascible traders whilst earning a fraction of their pay. For this reason it’s often assumed that the throng of newly qualified accountants which floods into the City each year has been lured in on false pretences. Rather than wanting a career as product controllers, it’s they really... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 10 Mar 2010 - 11 comments
Monday was Clifford Sacks’ first day as Ceo South Africa and head of Pan-African equities for Renaissance Capital, the Russian investment bank that is expanding aggressively in emerging markets. Before joining RenCap, Sacks, who is South African, was co-Ceo for SA and Sub-Saharan Africa at BoA Merrill Lynch, a well-respected investment banker with twenty years’ experience and a deep knowledge of African equities. His task is to open and staff a... Read more
By Nicol Degli Innocenti 05 Mar 2010 - 0 comments
This short video originated with our colleagues in the US. Featuring Cat Miller, eFinancialCareers' response to Maria Bartiromo, it's intended to help you suppress the instinct to be horrible about former/future colleagues in interviews. Watch carefully.
Don't go there.Watch the video.
Anonymous 21 Jan 2010 - 0 comments
We've all seen variations on the list of common questions interviewers ask, but how much have you thought about what questions you should ask a potential employer? The best interviews are really conversations, as well they should be. You want to know if the position is the right fit - just as much as the company does. After all, the work you do makes up a good portion of your waking... Read more
By Chad Broadus 18 Dec 2009 - 9 comments
Many recruitment firms would have naïve newly qualified accountants think otherwise, but product control is not really very exciting. It might be ok if you derive immense gratification from totting up P&Ls for ungrateful traders, but it’s not so hot if you’d rather put your accountancy skills to use in a more strategic context. But what product control lacks in excitement, it makes up in steadiness. According to one recruiter, product... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 02 Dec 2009 - 10 comments
For those in the know, referring to Commerzbank’s pay pot as its bonus ‘pool’ may seem misplaced: ‘puddle’ might be more appropriate; the bank’s not known for paying particularly well. This year, however, Commerzbank might pay some of its London bankers more than usual, and for reasons other than those laid out in its recent compensation document. There aren’t all that many former Dresdner Kleinwort bankers still left at... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 23 Nov 2009 - 0 comments
It has come to our attention that Ernst & Young has biggish hiring plans for its financial services advisory arm. Fresh from hiring Vincent Oratore from Banque AIG for its financial services tax practice, our source informs us that E&Y aspires to further expand its FS advisory headcount by 30 people. A spokesperson for the company says E&Y’s advisory practice is engaged in “everything that’s not audit.” More specifically, this includes... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 29 Oct 2009 - 10 comments
Don’t get too excited by the title. I’m not about to suggest that there are areas within the City which are seeing a hiring boom. On the contrary, recruitment within the financial services sector is still very delicate, so the term ‘hot spots’ is used here very loosely. Confidence levels in the City are improving, and this is having a positive knock on effect on the jobs market, but we’re... Read more
By Andrew Evans, Managing Director, Morgan McKinley 09 Oct 2009 - 8 comments
These are fortunate times if you’re a newly qualified ACA with a sense that your destiny lies in product control. After a period of limited recruitment in which only experienced product controllers were even vaguely appealing, banks are hiring juniors again. Even more fortunately, banks’ renewed appetite for juniors coincides with the time when ACAs get their exam results and are free to move out of private practice. “In the past... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 08 Oct 2009 - 7 comments
With recession comes increased incidences of fraud, heightened anxiety around capital projects and tougher financial regulations, all of which spells more business for forensic accountants. Not surprisingly, they're hiring. Business is booming – PricewaterhouseCoopers, for instance, has seen revenues from its forensics division increase by 77% on three years, and KPMG tells us its one of its most profitable areas currently. "Over the last 12 months, the economic crisis... Read more
By Paul Clarke 16 Sep 2009 - 3 comments
Barclays Capital’s trade support deficiencies may prompt banks to strengthen their teams in the area. BarCap’s failings were nothing if not comprehensive. Yesterday it was fined £2.45m by the FSA after it emerged that 100% of its reportable transactions across every ‘core asset class’ (except cash equities where a mere 84% were affected) were reported either inaccurately or not at all between 1st November 2007 and 31st October 2008. Although this... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 09 Sep 2009 - 0 comments
In spite of improved performance in the first half of this year, investment banks are still keeping a close eye on costs. The upside of this is that it's creating an increase in demand for accountants on contract basis. Recruiters tell us that the first quarter of 2009 was a tough time for temporary accountants looking for work within investment banks. Projects were put on hold and those who managed to... Read more
By Paul Clarke 27 Aug 2009 - 4 comments
Like traders and salespeople, product control jobs have been hit by the demise of structured credit. Now they’re being hit again by an alleged push to move roles related to vanilla products offshore. Recruiters say Morgan Stanley is moving some of its accounting roles to its Business Services and Technology Centre in Budapest. Credit Suisse is said to be moving roles to Pune in India and JPMorgan is rumoured to... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 31 Jul 2009 - 2 comments
As someone with long experience of working in the finance function of investment banks, I can safely say that front office bankers are not always very nice. I have been threatened with violence, humiliated, and shouted at on many occasions. It’s easy to say that front office bankers’ are self important because they’re revenue generators and everyone else is a cost. This is undoubtedly a big factor, but the reality... Read more
Anonymous 27 Jul 2009 - 14 comments
Given the incredible popularity of the Morgan McKinley monthly employment monitor and our almost unblemished record of writing about it, it seems fair that we should add a small something on the subject at the end of the day. Needless to say, things are looking up. As suggested by the Powerchex report we referenced earlier, there are certainly more jobs than there were a few months ago, but there are still... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 15 Jul 2009 - 8 comments
Following the Sunday Times’ declaration of the rebirth of tax avoidance schemes, we thought it worthwhile checking out precisely which schemes are now available and to whom.The answer appears to be that there aren’t really many schemes available at all. And those that are on offer are only open to a very select few able to slip under the radar of HMRC.Most tax avoidance schemes died horribly in 2004 “I was very surprised... Read more
By Sarah Butcher 06 Jul 2009 - 1 comment