Banks preparing to build equities IT teams

Some recent senior equities electronic trading hires, combined with a general appetite among investment banks to expand in this asset class, suggests that there could be an increased desire to hire technology staff in this space. Initial projections from headhunters suggest this is indeed the case.

This week Deutsche Bank has hired Jose Marques as managing director and head of equity electronic trading who, among other things, has responsibility for technology. JP Morgan has also unveiled Frank Troise as global head of equities electronic client solutions.

A number of investment banks have been expanding their equities team in the last 12 months, and there are signs that IT staff will also be in demand. Headhunters tell us that Deutsche Bank and Nomura have both earmarked around 30 hires within equities IT for 2010, while Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, RBS, HSBC and JPMorgan are all recruiting.

James Richmond, sales director at financial technology recruiters Cititec, says: "Banks are building in equities technology, and there's also the expectation that they'll be significant churn in market following bonus season."

Similarly, Paul Bennie, director of IT in finance headhunters Bennie MacLean, says firms realise the importance of maintaining investment in technology.

"With a number of investment banks expanding in equities, many are realising the competitive advantage technology can provide," he says.

A recent study by TABB Group into sell-side equities trading technology says that as well as reducing latency, firms will be required to invest in expanding network capacity and making more efficient use of data centre space.