Is there room for another fixed income search boutique in the London market?

Banks' FICC businesses have been doing well. In the first quarter of this year, revenues were up 95% on the fourth quarter of 2009, according to figures from Morgan Stanley.

Predictably, this is prompting hiring. As we've reported, UBS, Deutsche, RBC, Morgan Stanley, and BofA Merrill have all been hiring. BNP Paribas and BarCap also need to recruit some FICC replacements.

In the circumstances, this might seem the perfect time to launch a fixed income focused search boutique. Several senior search consultants seem to have taken the hint. Recent months have seen the appearance of Eden Search, founded by Piers Benbow who was previously with Hammond Partners, and Scott Reynolds, founded by David Reynolds, previously with Sheffield Haworth.

Now Russell Clarke, formerly of Mantis Partners, and Victoria Macpherson, formerly of Stephen Raby (plus another as yet unnamed partner), have founded Figtree Search to focus on the FX, interest rates and credit markets.

"Demand for indepth competitor analysis and product understanding in areas such as rate flow, senior sales to real money accounts and heads of trading is strong, so we are confident our focus is well-timed," says Clarke.

Charlie Clouston, a partner at i-Search, which also focuses on FICC recruitment, says there still FICC hiring to be done this year in London, and recruiters with knowledge about a particular sector will usually be in demand.

Longer term, the rash of new fixed income boutiques may need to broaden their focus though.

"Different banking businesses tend to be countercyclical. It helps to have a balance of revenue streams, both across markets and geographically," says Lee Thacker, head of markets recruitment at Sheffield Haworth, which operates across the spectrum and has nine offices globally.