The great expansionary intentions of Troika Dialog - but is it really adding staff?
All roads to ambition may well lead through investment bank Troika Dialog. Building on its alliance with Russian state savings bank Sberbank, Troika aims to become a powerhouse to compete with successful rival VTB Capital, which grew from nothing to become the country's leader in equity and debt deals in just two years.
Chris Weafer, who first worked at Troika a decade ago, is back as chief strategist, Jamie Corrigan has been poached from VTB Capital as MD investment banking, and Olga Klimov from UBS is 'coming home' to be new head of equity sales.
Is it pay or opportunity that is drawing the new hires?
"Troika's packages are competitive within the Russian market but it isn't as if they're paying over the top. Undoubtedly the pay in London is higher. But in an insular market Troika has a very strong presence, and is well-established with government backing. This is incredibly attractive to those focusing on building to set up a market-focus long-term" says Tom Redhead at headhunters Selby Jennings.
Bonuses "are not set in stone any more in contracts but will be paid on performance" he adds.
According to a recent survey by Antal Russia, only a few investment banks are offering salary increases of more than 10% of current salary, but "the appearance of new strong players in the market has caused a certain migration of the highest qualified candidates."
It's worth bearing in mind that not all Troika's hires are about expansion. Some of them are simply about filling gaps caused by staff defections. Troika has been rebuilding after departures ahead of the merger with Sberbank - Weafer replaces Kingsmill Bond, who left for Citigroup, and Klimov fills a role that has been vacant since Gerrit Heyns quit in 2009, with Nick Harwood filling in a 'temporary capacity', say observers.
"A positive factor is that it (Troika) has not been absorbed into Sberbank, but has retained some independence, while benefiting from the new client base" says Olga Selivanova- Shoff, a partner in the financial services practice at search firm Heidrick & Struggles.
"If they hire a combination of top local bankers and internationally trained talent, they will be very interesting to watch" says another headhunter elsewhere.
