Hedge funds, investment firms and wealth management firms are on a hiring spree—scouring for due diligence analysts. But no matter the firm, fund, and products, the job’s basically the same. The job title may vary, as with many financial posts. But in a nutshell, it’s about mitigating operational risk. Hedge funds, in particular, seem to be keenly interested in senior-level due diligence specialists and analysts. A cooperative spirit is certainly a... Read more

Brand name undergrad business programs aren’t as hot as you might think. This is especially true when calculating the ROI on your degree, according to a recent Bloomberg Businessweek analysis, which found that on average, state school costs are about a third of private schools, while starting salaries lag by just 9%. Further, some schools graduate students who earn just as much as those who graduate from private institutions, including... Read more

Be careful what you wish for. That is the message of an analysis by Investment News of the so-called recruiting wars. The publication's survey of firms estimates that the top six companies plan to add a net 2,000 advisers this year, in addition to an estimated 12,000 advisers who could move firms to fill vacancies created by attrition. The article states: “At a time when the total population of financial... Read more

The disappointingly low number of women in the top ranks of finance is actually shrinking, according to Reuters. Women made up just 15.3 percent of executive and senior level managers in investment banking and securities in 2009, down from 16.4 percent in 2008 and 17.8 percent in 2007. Insiders blame a small hiring pool and the challenges of balancing such positions with a family, which disproportionally falls on women.... Read more

What do youngsters know, anyway? Well, Generations Y and X know they don’t too much care for financial advisers, and the industry is scrambling to find ways to appeal to and attract customers in this group, according to the Financial News To combat challenges in this demographic -- which tends to be less interested in investing, more risk adverse, and more likely to drop an adviser -- advisories including Waddell... Read more

When it comes to their attire, hedge fund professionals are able to be more a lot more casual than most Wall Streeters. Shirts and slacks are the norm; suits and ties are not required. But dressing up your resume is another matter altogether. You want to include as much detail as possible and leave very little to the imagination. “I’d say the resumes of eight out of 10 of our candidates... Read more

Investment banks are expanding their commodities trading units, as the world’s thirst for raw materials balloons and investors are looking for ways to hedge inflation, according to Businessweek. Citigroup plans to hire 10 people in its 30-strong commodity investment product team over the next two years and launch a commodity trading unit in Shanghai. The bank has two commodities indexes which have attracted more than $1 billion since their introduction.... Read more

Banks, as well as investment and asset management firms, seem to want it all from their job applicants. Don’t even mention hedge funds and private equity. In their search for the “perfect” and well-seasoned candidate, the list of job requirements is becoming longer than the Brady Bunch’s grocery list. Steven Pincus, managing director for TTI of USA, an executive recruiter, notes, “Client job descriptions, more often than not, do have... Read more

Whereas hedge funds continue to strive to do more work with less personnel, hedge fund recruiter Kyle J. Ramkissoon of IJC Partners LLC sees some clear pockets of opportunity for both senior and junior professionals with the right skill sets and the appropriate attitude. Ramkissoon, a principle and founding member of the New York-based firm, shared the following insights with EFC News in a recent interview: EFC: What new trends impact... Read more

Banco Santander topped Bloomberg's inaugural listing of green banks thanks to its in-house conservation efforts and focus on eco-minded deals. Goldman Sachs came in No. 2 overall and topped the list in green investing. The Madrid based bank has closed 40 energy-related deals so far this year, 90 percent of which were in renewable energy. The ranking of 188 banks worldwide with market capitalizations of at least $10 million was based... Read more

It seems like the old boys’ network is alive and well on Wall Street, if only because guys know how to make one another feel like part of the team even before a relationship’s been established. Connie Thanasoulis-Cerrachio, head of career coaching firm SixFigureStart, recently observed this clearly when she and some colleagues interviewed asset management analyst recruits from top undergraduate colleges and universities. Some of the male interviewers greeted... Read more

Hedge funds lagged the stock market last year, yet managers of even the poorest performing funds took home handsome pay packages, according to the New York Times. Case in point: the head of D.E. Shaw saw a 2010 payday of $275 million, even though his firm’s biggest fund returned a lousy 2.45%. The Times quotes one hedge fund investor: “So many of these guys are killing it on the management fees.... Read more

The M&A market is headed for even better times, according to a new study examined by the New York Times [NYT] Of the 40 top M&A bankers and lawyers surveyed by the PR firm Brunswick Group, 92 percent said they expect the rest of this year to bring continued strong growth in mergers and acquisitions. Much of that confidence can be attributed to the proposed mega merger of AT&T and T-Mobile.... Read more

Everything you need to know about hiring in one enormous report from Morgan Stanley, Predicts 20k job losses Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman have produced their large annual report on the state of the investment banking industry. While it doesn’t make for massively felicitous reading, what with Basel III and falling margins, it does say that banks need to reduce their costs and cut 20,000 jobs. Assuming you don’t have... Read more

This year's investment banking compensation should shape up better than a "disappointing" 2010, compensation consultant Alan Johnson said to a gathering of the Wall Street Compensation and Benefits Association. For one thing, 2011 will see higher bonuses, Johnson predicted, with incentive-based pay increasing "moderately," rising 10 to 15 percent. Salaries should trend upward as well, and there could be upward adjustments to base pay at year-end given regulatory pressure to... Read more

Starting this month private equity firms are making grabs for new hires earlier and younger, reports the New York Times. Some of the big firms are already making offers for positions that won't start until the fall of 2012. Five years ago such offers were made starting in September. The move signals a shortage of top graduates and a heating up on the hiring front overall. MSSB laying off 300 advisers.... Read more

RBC Capital Markets continues to expand its U.S. banking team, hiring three new executives and more than 100 staffers in the past year. [Financial News] Financial firms in Massachusetts are beginning to hire following the Wall Street meltdown. [Boston Herald] A wave of top-level departures has hit Wall Street's largest custodian businesses, like Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan. [Financial News] London’s top hedge funds are moving operations to Malta to escape rising costs and... Read more

Boutique investment bank Guggenheim Partners will hire up to 150 prop-trader refugees from bulge-bracket banks. [Bloomberg] Credit Suisse hired Eric Miller, former head of credit research at Barclays Capital, to run fixed-income research globally - a move to help expand its debt underwriting business. [Bloomberg] UBS has appointed two former Washington insiders to its wealth management division, potentially improving its standing with regulators. [Dealbook] A new SEC proposal would require Wall Street firms... Read more

Given the exodus of top trading talent to hedge funds, now seems as good a time as any to get a handle on what's driving the moves. One could easily pinpoint the downturn and the dismantling of prop desks in anticipation of the Volker Rule. But it seems as if the recent moves have also been helped by the money flowing into the sector, as fund managers flee equities and... Read more

Commodities broker Marex Group is planning to hire an additional 55 staff this year and expand in the U.S. and Asia. [Financial News] Wall Street's elite could face higher taxes to make up for New York's tax shortfall. [Crain's New York] Salaries are on the rise for entry-level financial advisers. [InvestmentNews] The separation of research and investment banking businesses have altered the revenue models for most top banks. [Financial News] Hedge funds appear to... Read more