Banks go after strategists to service hedge funds

Growth in hedge fund activity is fuelling banks' demand for investment strategists.

Russell Clarke, a director at search firm Mantis Partners, says banks have been avidly hiring investment strategists for the past six months, with no end in sight. "It's a real phenomenon," he says. "There's particular interest in demand for strategists who are focused on the volatility and the high-end derivatives space, across credit, equity, FX, and interest rates."

Clarke says hiring is broadly spread across banks. Merrill Lynch is currently advertising on eFinancialCareers for an FX derivatives strategist, plus an emerging markets local debt strategist. UBS is seeking a strategist to join its global equity team, and Société Générale is looking for a commodities strategy specialist.

Hedge funds are largely to blame for banks' splurge on technical strategists, according to Clarke: "Hedge funds are particularly looking for banks' strategists to offer trade ideas of where the market and price is going next."

These days, Clarke says a decent derivatives strategist can command total compensation in the range of 250k to 370k.

He says the strategists currently in vogue have more than a fundamental macroeconomic focus. "Traditionally, strategists were all economists," says Clarke. "Then they were specialists in econometrics. Now they all need to have high-end mathematics."