Moelis & Co is hiring. The M&A boutique which went public earlier this year has been recruiting all sorts of senior bankers from all sorts of places like Credit Suisse, Bank of America and Barclays. As of yesterday, it’s also been recruiting failed politicians. Moreover, it’s been recruiting failed politicians on giant pay packages.
Moelis is paying ex-Republican politician Eric Cantor a total of $1.8m in 2014 and up to $2m in 2015. It’s also paying for him to live in a ‘reasonable New York apartment‘ for one year. This is despite the fact that Cantor has no prior investment banking experience. It’s also despite Ken Moelis claiming earlier this year that he no longer needs to pay generous amounts to attract experienced bankers who are so desperate to escape big banks that they don’t demand that all their stock be bought out when they leave.
So why is Cantor getting paid? He’s clearly a special case. Having been ousted as leader of the Republican majority in the House of Republicans in June, he will guarantee a high profile for Moelis & Co’s new Washington DC office. However, the manner of his engagement should act as a lesson to less infamous bankers everywhere. – The job offer cropped up just as Cantor and his wife were reportedly having an informal brunch with Moelis and his wife at a Chicago restaurant. There, the men were informally discussing Cantor’s future career when the possibility of Cantor becoming a banker (on a huge package) happened to arise. Conclusion: if you want to access the top jobs in banking, you need to network. Moreover, it seems that you need to network along with your wife and to ensure that your wife networks with any other wives present. This will create a convivial setting for lucrative job offers. Or so it seems.
Separately, following the recent Wall Street Oasis discussion on the strange absence of women from the trading floor, an alleged scandal at Credit Suisse helps explain their scarcity. The Swiss bank has reportedly unearthed evidence that male traders in its London office have been congregating to watch X-rated videos on their mobile phones during market lulls. They’ve also been using ‘racist and profane language.’ At the same time. Credit Swiss equities trader Zoe Henderson stands accused of ‘improperly sharing client communications with her husband,’ who works for RBC Capital Markets. Maybe Credit Suisse should have banned chat rooms and warned its traders against vulgarity in the style of Deutsche Bank. Unfortunately it seems a little late for that now.
Meanwhile:
Nomura wants to hire some more coverage bankers in the US. (Bloomberg)
‘Unconscious bias’ at Stan Chart - women with children weren’t promoted because they had no international experience (HR Magazine)
BNP Paribas has combined its M&A and financing teams across media and telecoms, energy and infrastructure, metals and mining, transportation and real estate, and might soon hire some more people. (Financial News)
It’s not just bankers. People work 80-100 hour weeks, plus weekends, at start-ups like Uber too. (Business Insider)
How Goldman Sachs and McKinsey keep a steady stream of Ivy League Recruits. (Quartz)
Man charged with building BlackRock’s new hedge fund unit says he’ll make do with internal hires wherever possible. (PI Online)
Important fund manager explains why he’s not investing in banks: they face unquantifiable litigation risk.(Woodford Funds)
Parents are not keen for their children to become bankers. (HR Grapevine)
You will earn more money if you’re good at maths and you have strong social skills. (HBR)