Lunchtime Links: Financial services M&A hiring still hasn't recovered; try clean energy instead

Sadly, even though banks did rather well last year, it seems they're not rushing back to top business schools to satisfy an insatiable urge for MBA students. The Wall Street Journal has been talking to the senior director of the career development office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, who says that although hiring is recovering in financial services, it's "still down," and that asset managers' enthusiasm for MBAs is still more lacklustre.

With investment banks not the voracious hirers of MBAs that they once were, MIT students are apparently trying their hands at supply chain management, project management or green technology - where there's a lot of growth.

More on Citigroup's 100 planned commodities hires. (Bloomberg)

It is absolutely imperative that Nomura hires lots of big bankers in the US. (Reuters)

Sal Oppenheim will close what remains of its investment bank, thereby making 200 people redundant. (Bloomberg)

SocGen's got a new head of global M&A. (Wall Street Journal)

Merrill hires new head of Asia Pac DCM from Deutsche. (Reuters)

Investment banking fees rose 13% in 2009; JP Morgan was the winner. (Bloomberg)

Goldman won't be involved in Greece's new bond issue. (Financial Times)

Goldman and JPMorgan are getting into metals warehousing. (Financial Times)

Daiwa wants to increase (Tokyo-based) graduate hiring by 40%. (Bloomberg)

Social awkwardness, obsessiveness, and idiosyncrasy are common features of successful hedge fund managers. (WSJ)

Dressing for video communications. (WSJ)

Stevie, it is Van Praag-bashing that will threaten the recovery. Must I do ALL the thinking? (Fake Lucas Van Praag)