Boston-area investment firms aren't hurting for resumes. Thousands of bankers laid off from Wall Street firms are eager to make a change to areas of financial services that appear to be weathering the economic downturn, such as private equity, venture capital or hedge funds. Moreover, people living in New York - especially those with ties to New England - are willing to relocate to Boston, making the job market there... Read more

As most hedge funds sail through the market turbulence with colors flying, banks' prime broker units are emerging as a safe career harbor within the sell side. Prime brokers are major beneficiaries of the hedge fund sector's ongoing expansion, says a new report by TABB Group, a capital markets research and strategic advisory firm. The study of 61 U.S.-based hedge funds estimates that prime broker revenues from hedge funds will exceed... Read more

Glocap Search launched a strategic human resources practice, placing all levels of HR professionals into private equity and hedge fund firms. The new practice is co-headed by Terry Kassel, a former global head of human resources at Merrill Lynch, and Ruthanne Feinberg, a Glocap executive who leads the worldwide retained search firm's own internal recruitment efforts. Glocap's clients in the alternative investment space "have become more sophisticated in building their HR... Read more

Hedge fund recruiter Schwab Enterprise LLC was acquired by Heidrick & Struggles International. In addition to recruiting for leading hedge funds, New York-based Schwab Enterprise has published career guides and studies on compensation in the hedge fund industry. Claude Schwab, its founder, becomes a partner at Heidrick & Struggles. Before founding Schwab Enterprise, he ran Glocap's hedge fund practice in the U.S. Also joining Hedrick & Struggles from Schwab Enterprise are... Read more

The takeover of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan could put thousands of jobs at risk - on both sides of the deal. The 14,000 employees of Bear Stearns may own a third of the company, but how many of them will keep their jobs is unknown as news of the firm's acquisition by JPMorgan sinks in. "People involved in the talks" suggested to the New York Times that a third of Bear's... Read more

Although there are soft spots, college recruiting trends indicate a solid job market for financial professionals in San Francisco. Recruiting at both the University of California at Berkley and Stanford University remains brisk, indicating the job market for financial professionals in the San Francisco area remains strong though soft spots do remain, according to officials from the schools. Neither institution has noticed any dramatic drop-off in the number of companies recruiting... Read more

Bear Stearns is cutting another 650 jobs around the world, the lion's share in the U.S. The move brings to nearly 1,500 the number of positions axed since the summer - equaling nearly 10 percent of Bear's total headcount at the end of August. Reuters says the latest cuts impact departments "across the company," including back office jobs in London. The New York Post reports the cuts are focused on Bear's fixed-income... Read more

Integrating A.G. Edwards' sales force of 6,500 brokers will be the main challenge Wachovia faces in the wake of its announced $6.8 billion acquisition of the St. Louis-based firm. If Wachovia is able to hold on to all the A.G. Edwards brokers, its retail sales network would nearly double in size, to 1,512 branch offices and 15,000 financial advisors. The combination would create the second-largest retail brokerage in the U.S., vaulting... Read more

After a high-level departure, Merrill Lynch is writing a new chapter in Wall Street’s playbook for keeping senior investment bankers from jumping ship. Merrill is expected to announce this week a "flatter" leadership structure for its Global Markets & Investment Banking division, according to the Financial Times. Merrill announced May 16 that Dow Kim, co-president of the division since 2003, will leave by the end of the year to start a... Read more

Human resources professionals on Wall Street will continue to hone their workplace advisory skills during 2007. The demand for HR professionals who can advise managers and employees as internal consultants mirrors a national business trend that is transforming the field, industry observers say. As outsourcing and off-shoring absorb administrative duties like benefits management, investment banks have come to depend on internal HR staff to assist with employee retention and workplace development.... Read more

If you are deemed a problematic employee at your bank, chances are you run the risk of an engineered exit. A survey of HR professionals at 124 UK financial services firms has highlighted a growing problem in the banking sector: a full 70% of banks’ HR professionals surveyed said that employees who lied, bullied or underperformed were a lost cause – and a third of those surveyed admitted to ‘engineering’ dismissals... Read more

The ICMA Centre, a financial services-focused business school attached to the UK’s University of Reading, received a £5m (€7.4m) grant to finance the expansion of its teaching facilities this month. The endowment was a gift from the centre’s benefactor and namesake, the International Capital Markets Association. But Reading is not the only university to run specialist finance courses with outside help. In 2002, Cass Business School, part of the City University,... Read more

Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar are investing heavily in financial services projects The Gulf states are battling to establish the Arab world’s leading financial centre and the jobs market in the Middle East is booming as a result. Dubai is to launch a new stock exchange in its International Financial Centre this month. It is the latest phase of a project announced in 2002, which has encouraged the likes of Barclays Capital... Read more