Revolving doors for loan syndication specialists

Recruiters say banks are vigorously soliciting new loan syndication specialists, and aggressively weeding out underperformers in the area.

Paul Hunt, managing director of search firm Healy Hunt, says both debt driven corporate banks and advisory-focused investment banks, are bulking up with loan syndication staff. "Thanks to Basle II, banks are looking to manage their balance sheets more aggressively. There is a real impetus to build the loan syndication function."

Sadly for loan syndication specialists who thought they were onto a cushy number, Hunt says the new recruitment drive is accompanied by move to cull anyone who doesn't make the grade. "Banks are being much aggressive at managing out low performing and non-performing staff," he says. "Two or three years ago they were quite gentle with them, now they are managed out very quickly and we expect attitudes to harden further in future."

This new hard attitude appears to be on display at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Last week, Euroweek reported that RBS made around 22 people redundant across its banking and global markets business, with losses focused in the loan syndication sector.

With luck, they may be able to walk into new roles elsewhere. Recruiters say Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are looking to increase their presence in loan syndication, as are UK and European clearing banks like Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Barclays and UBS. Real estate specialists are most popular, as are junior staff.

"The loan syndication market is very top heavy," says one recruiter. "There aren't enough analyst and associates to go around. Most graduate trainees prefer to go into more glamorous and better paid investment banking roles."

Although pay for syndication is rising, recruiters say the disparity with investment banking is unlikely to disappear anytime soon. While top high yield salespeople can make several millions, pay for the most successful syndicators is apparently capped at 500,000.