Bank Recruiters Shun More Campuses

Investment banks reportedly are confining their campus recruiting in the UK to an ultra-select circle of three to six elite universities this year, down from about 20 in past years.

The Financial Times describes an "inner circle" comprising Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, and an "outer circle" comprising the London School of Economics, University College London and Warwick University. Most major banks are actively recruiting from the inner group, while a subset of those banks are recruiting from the outer group as well.

Other universities among the 20-member Russell Group - where most banks previously were active - are being shut out this year, the FT indicates. For instance, an unnamed "leading investment bank" told Oxford University career servide director Jonathan Black it's paring its worldwide campus recruiting pool from 67 institutions to 25 - including just "two or three in the UK."

The story also cites comments from career services officials at Cambridge, Imperial, the LSE and the University of Nottingham.