Fantasy hiring 2011: HSBC and the big equities push?

This is the year that HSBC is going to focus on building its equities business. Samir Assaf assumed the position as head of the investment banking business on January 1st; his major task is assembling an equities edifice to match what the bank's already built in fixed income.

A spokesman for the bank says the 2011 equities build marks a continuation of something that began last year. "In 2010, headcount increased across ECM, sales, trading and research," he says. "This is an ongoing programme, but we're not committing to any specific numbers."

One equities headhunter claims HSBC's hiring intentions in research were spelt out in an email sent recently to staff. According to this email, he alleges the bank's looking for researchers in product management, telecoms, oil and gas, and insurance.

However, other headhunters say HSBC's equities aspirations may not be all they seem. Last May it was rumoured that David May, the bank's head of research who sent the purported email, was leaving for RBC. May appears to have been bought back or changed his mind, but his alleged capriciousness could raise questions over HSBC's intentions.

Equally, another senior equities headhunter says HSBC's equities aspirations are a perennially recurrent theme. "I've been in this business for ten years, and every year I've always heard that HSBC is going to have a big equities push and nothing comes of it.

"I'd be staggered if they suddenly started doing an Exane type thing," he adds. "The problem is that they won't pay and won't guarantee - and if they do guarantee, the absolute numbers aren't there."

Last year, HSBC was rumoured to have doubled salaries. However, headhunters say this is wishful thinking. "Some of HSBC's senior researchers were on 125k and they've gone up to 185k," says one. "It's a long way below the 300k on offer at places like UBS," he adds.