Time for Nomura to change its payment cycle
Nomura has lost another super senior 'key rainmaker', Adrian Mee, from its M&A division to BofA.
This follows the earlier departure of Christian Meissner Nomura's deputy head of investment banking, also to BofA.
The two events are unlikely to be unrelated. Meissner will inevitably be inclined to extract his favourite former colleagues to work with him at BofA, although he needs to be careful not to fall foul of non-solicit clauses. BofA's big cheque book is also likely to be a contributory factor: rumour has it that Meissner was lured on a $15m one year package.
Equally at issue, however, is Nomura's payment cycle.
The Japanese bank pays bonuses in late April; most others pay in February.
This arrangement has its advantages in March and early April, when other banks'
staff are easily persuaded to quit having already banked their bonuses, but Nomura staff are still hanging on for payment.
At this time of year, however, it's a nightmare: Nomura's bankers still have another seven months to go until their bonuses are paid and are comparatively willing to leave as a result. Meanwhile, staff at rival firms can taste their 2010 bonuses and can only be persuaded to quit for a large guarantee.
The result? Nomura's a key target for anyone looking to indulge in third and fourth quarter hiring.
A senior Nomura banker confesses it's a bit of a pain: "It's a strategic issue that we deal with every year. We've had discussions about changing the bonus payment schedule but it's not what we want to do," he says.
If the payment schedule isn't to be altered, something else may need to be done to retain Nomura's remaining M&A talent. Mee was head of M&A and his departure is likely to be keenly felt. Headhunters point out that Meissner's also likely to be interested in other key members of the pre-Nomura Lehman team, such as Ludovico del Balzo, currently head of consumer banking at Nomura. Retention payments, anyone?
