Investment banks in hiring mode

Till a few months ago, hiring was a strict no-no for investment banks. On the contrary, they were scaling back staffing plans in India given the dearth of merger and acquisition activity and stagnant capital markets.That is changing rapidly with a rising number of deals fuelled by strong growth in the markets and an improving economic environment.

As a result, the talent hunt has been resumed, especially for people with expertise in equity markets, infrastructure and telecom. For instance, Citi Global Markets recently hired Bhavna Thakur as head of transactions, capital markets, from Morgan Stanley. Merrill Lynch has selectively started hiring for mid-level positions and Goldman Sachs is recruiting at associate and senior associate levels.

Japan's financial powerhouse, Nomura, which bought 35 per cent in LIC Mutual Fund in July, already employs over 2,600 people in India. It surprised many by issuing half-page advertisements expressing its intent to recruit in large numbers. Many banks have moved to reallocate senior staff from other regions to India.

Apart from the global banks, domestic firms such as Edelweiss filled four positions at vice-president and senior vice-president levels. Yes Bank filled one vice-president position this month. "The hiring has started very selectively," confirmed Aditya Sanghi, co-founder and managing director investment banking at Yes Bank. "Further recruitment may take place with M&A activity gaining momentum," he added.

"Investment banks have started building their teams in expectation of the deal market picking up," says Ranu Vohra, managing director, Avendus Advisor, a home-grown investment bank. Avendus has been hiring throughout the year for its new functions such as equity research, but it recently recruited a senior person in the equity markets side and is filling up a leadership-level position for its M&A advisory this month.

Saket Jain, managing partner at Vito India, a specialised head hunting firm for the industry, says investment banks are currently looking for mid- to senior-level executives especially for infrastructure, telecom and financial institution groups.

Indian companies raised about Rs 13,000 crore through initial public offers in the June-September period this year, including those from Adani Power, Oil India and NHPC. Merchant bankers are expecting over Rs 50,000 crore to be raised in the second half of the current financial year. This has created a lot of demand for the equity capital market function for which Citi hired the transaction head.

The tempo of hiring is expected to pick up from January. Global banks follow the calendar year and top-level hiring for various vertical heads are expected to take off in the January-March period.