Corporate finance bank bosses are thin on the ground

Now that Hank Paulson's leaving Goldman Sachs and John Studzinski's quit HSBC, where are corporate financiers to go if they want to work under a chief executive with an advisory rather than a markets background?

The options are limited. Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers are run by former bond traders. The investment banking arm of Credit Suisse is run by a former derivatives trader. Goldman is now run by a one-time commodities trader. And Stuart Gulliver, who now holds the reins at HSBC, has a background in treasury and capital markets.

Should senior corporate financiers be heading for the likes of Merrill Lynch and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which have former investment bankers at the helm in the form of Stan O'Neal and Stefan Jentzsch?

"No," says Isabel Martin, head of the European financial services practice at search firm Korn/Ferry International. "People think they'll have better access to the guy in charge if he comes from a similar background to them, but that isn't necessarily the case."

Working as an investment banker under a non-investment banking boss, can even be a good thing, says Martin.

She points to Allen Wheat, the former derivatives banker turned chief executive officer of Credit Suisse First Boston. Wheat handed out generous guaranteed bonuses at Credit Suisse First Boston in the boom times around 2000.

Goldman's investment bankers may well hope Lloyd Blankfein is moved to do the same.