Tactical advice for anyone who doesn't work at Glencore and feels agitated
Once in a while, a huge, epoch-defining-money-making-opportunity turns up for those in the right place at the right time, with sufficient seniority to make the most of it.
Such was Goldman's IPO. So too is the imminent flotation of Glencore.
Senior people at Glencore are about to become very, very rich. Not very rich in the sense of a $2m bonus deferred over three years that might be clawed back. Rich in the sense of very rich. Indeed.
The Sunday Times reports that each of Glencore's 485 partners (defined as 'traders who own the firm'), will receive shares worth an average of $103m from its imminent $9-$11bn flotation.
This follows an earlier report that the average senior trader at Glencore earns $19m a year.
Clarity will be brought to these figures on Thursday, when Glencore's due to issue its prospectus.
Damage limitation for the envious
What can be done if you're working for an investment bank and - in the bright light of Glencore's beneficence - are starting to feel like you've chosen the wrong kind of employer?
Not much if you work in corporate finance or equities. However, if you work in commodities, or operations, or IT, you could always consider the following:
1) Other privately owned commodities houses
Glencore may be the biggest, but it isn't the only private owned commodities trader. As the Financial Times points out today, there are others, including: Cargill, Louise Dreyfus Commodities (both family owned), Vitol, Trafigura, Gunvor, Mercuria, Touton, Sucres and Denrées.
Cargill isn't expected to go public, but an IPO for the others can't be ruled out. Trafigura or Vitol seem the most likely candidates. Employees with a stake in either firm could have a Glencore moment in future.
.
2) Glencore circa 2016
Glencore's senior traders won't be able to cash in their $103m until 2016. At that point, it's reasonable to think many of them will leave. Within five years of Goldman's IPO, 60% of its partners had gone.
That kind of clearing has two implications: Glencore will need to promote a lot of people to senior levels, or it will need to hire them from elsewhere.
One London-based commodities headhunter who's worked with the firm says Glencore's not averse to hiring externally and that its packages tend to be very generous indeed: "They pay huge cash bonuses up front."
