Morning Coffee: A morale boost for bankers with big aspirations in second tier banks. Good luck finding a new job if Goldman Sachs lets you go

For all the wordly aspirations of European investment banks, it remains the case that they're unfortunately still described as second tier. And for all the mistakes of the big US investment banks, they're still often known as the bulge bracket or as top tier houses. But in one corner of the market, Euromoney says the old certainties are being stood on their head. 

Get Morning Coffee ☕ in your inbox. Sign up here.

The overturning was visible in July when BNP Paribas revealed that it had achieved a nearly 60% year-on-year increase in equities sales and trading revenues in the second quarter. Euromoney says this was down to equity derivatives trades. It also says that as banks battle to increase equities revenues, second tier European banks that have been struggling to retain market share elsewhere in investment banking, are being given a chance to thrive. 

It's not just BNP Paribas. SocGen, Barclays and UBS are also well-placed to pick up equity derivatives revenues in a market where equity volatility is rising and there are opportunities to profit as clients rush to cover their own positions. Euromoney notes that senior people at European banks like Yann Gerardin at BNP, Alexandre Fleury at SocGen and Rob Karofsky at UBS all cut their teeth as derivatives traders, while Barclays' equities was built on a derivatives foundation.

As US banks rush to compete in what Morgan Stanley's Ted Pick recently described as an "equities world", they'll need to focus on equity derivatives trading too. September volatility implies that equity derivatives revenues will be up again in Q3. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are all battling for dominance. Even Fater Belbachir at Citi, an equity derivatives specialist by background, is being given an opportunity to partially redeem his department from the accusations of cultural dissolution (heavily denied) by this year's revenue windfall.

Separately, with Goldman Sachs embarking on its annual culling of underperformers, Fortune suggests it's a bad time to be let go. Banks are cautious about hiring and jobs are not easy to come by. At Citi, hiring is down 85% on 2022 according to VacancySoft. 

At Goldman Sachs, however, VacancySoft thinks hiring is perversely up on last year when the bank made 3,200 job cuts. Being let go by Goldman this year is therefore likely to be particularly hard - last year, at last, you could argue that you were a victim of circumstance; this year, you'll be tainted with the notion that you were worst in class. 

Meanwhile...

Susquehanna International likes its traders to play poker. Young traders there spend at least 100 hours playing cards during their training program. No actual money changes hands though. “We want to be in as many markets as we can be in. We think we’re making good decisions that transfer from the poker table to the world of finance.” (WSJ) 

Chi Nzelu, JPMorgan's head of FICC e-trading wants to make the bank a top electronic credit trader. “We want to establish a leading position in e-trading to complement our wider credit franchise. We understand that requires continued investment in technology as well as leveraging all of our resources across trading, sales and our client relationships.” (IFR) 

HSBC is recruiting hundreds of wealth managers in the UK. (Guardian) 

The eight partners who own C Hoare & Co today are all direct descendants of Sir Richard Hoare who set up the business in 1672. (The Times) 

Deloitte is returning to in-person interviews. “In-person interviews provide candidates with an opportunity to see first-hand what it’s like to work at Deloitte and meet the people they will be working with. The initial stages of the application process will remain virtual.” (Financial Times) 

Brevan Howard's Master Fund was down 0.62% again in August. (Bloomberg) 

Nadine Ahn says RBC is making up all its claims about her alleged workplace romance and has selectively quoted her messages. (Bloomberg) 

Douglas Haynes, a former president at Point72 Asset suddenly cancelled plans to start his own hedge fund, Norias Research Group, after he couldn't raise enough money. (Bloomberg) 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)