Despite Goldman’s glitches, other investment banks are hiring for fixed income tech roles
Goldman’s foray into electronic fixed income trading is not going smoothly – it’s been forced to delay the launch of its new corporate bond trading platform, GSessions, because of “logistical issues”, or computer gremlins to you and I.
In some ways this is disconcerting – Goldman’s new platform was seen as blazing the trail for other investment banks to follow the decidedly rockier path towards low touch electronic trading in the fixed income market. The other big player in this area is fund manager BlackRock, which is due to launch its Aladdin Trading Network by the end of this year.
Goldman’s project has been ongoing for more than a year and, as we pointed out previously, caused a little excitement in the recruiter fraternity due to the rare emergence of front office IT jobs in the first quarter.
However, while Goldman’s project may have encountered some glitches, IT in finance recruiters point to the new emergence of development roles around fixed income trading platforms in the City. Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and, of course, Goldman Sachs are all hiring, they suggest.
“All the so-called flow monster investment banks are recruiting for their fixed income technology teams,” says Paul Bennie, managing director of IT in finance recruiters Bennie MacLean. “There’s an attitude that continued innovation is necessary to compete and most firms are recruiting developers.”
Other recruiters tells us that after a period of hiring project managers and developers, there’s now a firm focus on bolstering their technical teams, and developers and architects are being hired. With front office technology investment on the back burner currently, you might have assumed that internal transfers would be taking place. However, most firms are recruiting externally.
“Most banks see the need to broaden the talent base, and are looking to hire externally for these roles,” adds one IT in finance recruiter. “However, despite the emergence of these positions, severe constraints on salaries across the organisation have meant that pay has remained flat.”
