Job wrap: Pisker exits Dresdner

Last week's big news was the revelation that Andrew Pisker, London-based chief of executive of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), was making a swift exit.

Pisker's retreat follows a shake up in which DrKW is to be folded into the corporate banking division of Dresdner Bank. Stefan Jentzsch, who left German bank HVB earlier this month, will head the new division based in Frankfurt. Pisker's destination is unknown.

In other senior moves, HSBC hired Marc Moses from JPMorgan as chief financial and risk officer of its corporate, investment banking and markets division. Moses was JPMorgan's European CEO and global head of its valuation group.

In Germany, Axel Nawrath, one of Deutsche Börse's managing directors, resigned to become secretary of state at the German ministry of finance.

Investment banking: Hiring at Jefferies and Noble Group

Big name investment banks were notably subdued when it came to hiring people for investment banking divisions, but there was some activity in the junior league.

Jefferies, the New York-based investment bank, hired Charles Cameron, a former Goldman Sachs banker and chief executive of InTechnology, a UK-based data storage and disaster recovery company, as a managing director and senior member of the European technology corporate advisory practice.

Noble Group, the Scottish investment banking boutique, hired Richard Winter from Rödl & Partner, a German-based audit and consulting firm, to head European mergers and acquisitions.

Fixed income and commodities: from Man to DrKW

In a break from the norm, Martin Fraenkel, a senior consultant in commodities and derivatives at hedge fund Man Group, quit to join an investment bank. Fraenkel is to become a managing director and global head of commodities at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

Equities: SG stocks up on equity analysts

SG Corporate & Investment Banking, the investment bank of France's Société Générale, hired five equity analysts and economists. Gaelle Blanchard joined as a senior economist from Louis Dreyfus, the global commodities business. Frederic Prêtet also joined as a senior economist from Calyon. Jean Danjou joined as co-head of the software and IT services team from Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). Eloise Veillet joined as a senior food retail analyst from a similar role at Crédit Agricole Asset Management. And Stephane Foucaud joined as an oil analyst from Schlumberger, the oilfield services provider.

Independent UK stockbroker Charles Stanley retrieved Rupert Dearden from UK investment bank Robert W Baird as head of equity sales. Dearden worked for Charles Stanley in 2002, when he was a senior manager in the corporate broking team.

Teather & Greenwood, another UK stockbroker, hired Martin Potts from market research firm Durlacher as a UK mining analyst on its natural resources team.

Custody and asset management: hiring, hiring, hiring

Asset managers remained robust hirers last week, with no sign of year-end fatigue.

SEI, a provider of technology to the asset management industry, hired Barry O'Rourke from HSBC Alternative Fund Services, as managing director of its fund accounting, fund administration and shareholder services business in Dublin.

JPMorgan Fleming European Fledgling Investment Trust hired Paul Manduca, a former head of Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM), as a non-executive director. Manduca was ejected from DeAM at the end of last year.

ABN Amro Asset Management hired Gemma Taylor-Gee as an engagement specialist for its socially responsible investment business. Taylor-Gee joins from CoreRatings, a socially responsible investments research and ratings agency.

Troy Asset Management, an independent absolute-return fund manager, which has 360m (€518m) under management, hired Ruth Keattch, a former director at Deutsche Asset Management, as an investment director and head of research.

Pierre Schroeder, a former head of the New York debt finance division of French bank Société Générale, set up Square Investment Management, a London hedge fund manager.

Cazenove Capital Management, the asset manager soon to be demerged from Cazenove group, hired Chris Gillam from Morley Fund Management to the new role of UK key account manager in its specialist investment management division.

It emerged that Wellington Management Company, an independent fund manager, had hired Mark Stanley, the former head of Threadneedle Asset Management's institutional business marketing. However, Stanley's role at Wellington wasn't entirely clear, and the fund manager declined to comment.

Investment Consulting: Watson Wyatt at eye of storm

There was a spate of hiring activity in the world of investment consulting, all of it involving Watson Wyatt.

Watson Wyatt hired Robin Penfold from Russell Investment Group as a senior investment consultant. It also added Hen Dowsey from insurance firm Winterthur into a business development role. And it lost Peter Eyre, a senior consultant who quit to join archrival Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Private equity and venture capital: Benedetti to Carlyle

The Carlyle Group hired Marco de Benedetti, former chief executive of Telecom Italia Mobile, as a managing director and head of its Italian buy-out team. Benedetti replaces Edoardo Lanzavecchia, who resigned four months ago.

Independent private equity firm Kleinwort Capital hired Aatif Hassan from Close Brothers Corporate Finance. Hassan joins as an associate.

Northern Venture Managers, a Newcastle-based venture capital firm, hired James Arrowsmith from 3i, the UK's largest listed private equity group, as an investment manager.