Becoming the Holy Grail: a top relationship banker

While most front office recruitment founders, one format of individual remains seriously sought-after: the top relationship banker, with real relationships, who can bring in business - preferably of the fee-paying M&A variety.

"In every meeting I go into, people ask me the same thing: can you find us the top man - the senior rainmaker in the UK," says one senior investment banking headhunter. "I have to tell them that I can try, but it won't be easy. There are very, very few really good guys and they are usually incredibly well looked after."

When HSBC made its investment banking presentation yesterday, it said it had hired 60+ coverage MDs in the past 18 months and that it will continue hiring, 'selectively.'

It's not the only one. Citigroup said in February that it wants to hire as many as 20 senior corporate and BAML said in January that it wants to hire 30 senior relationship bankers in EMEA.

According to headhunters, some of this putative recruitment is planned for the UK. Much of has still to take place.

"The UK has the biggest share of the wallet. It's hot. Everyone wants UK generalists," claims one.

Becoming that person

What constitutes, "the top man," the "senior rainmaker" who can open doors and deliver relationships with top FTSE firms?

Ostensibly, it might be someone like Tony Blair. Realistically, this isn't the case.

"There are 10-15 really good coverage bankers in the UK," says one headhunter. "They're not just door openers - they have good technical banking skills. They can also give advice and the CEO is able to trust them implicitly."

The criteria for becoming a top coverage banker are multiple: high intelligence, hard work, extreme charm, long banking experience, utter trustworthiness.

The final criterion is difficult to achieve for anyone working their way up through an investment bank nowadays. Top relationship bankers do not attempt to cross sell products; they are impartial; they won't put the interest of the bank before their clients.

"If you have a strategic dialogue with a chief executive, you don't suddenly want to be trying to sell them an FX deal," says the headhunter. "If you get a bad reputation it will stick."

"What it comes down to is that you need to have real relationships where the CEO and the CFO will return your call and give you business," says another ex-bulge bracket M&A banker-turned headhunter. "A lot of people will say they know people. But they don't.

"Knowing someone means nothing if they can't bring in the business," she adds, philosophically.