21 firms that will be hiring finance professionals in 2014

Most firms are in the midst of formulating their hiring plans for 2014, which of course will be subject to change according to the whims of the market. However, some financial services organisations have already boldly stepped into the public arena, declaring ‘we are hiring’. Here’s who to direct your application to if you’re keen to kick-start your job search early.

1. The European Central Bank

The ECB has just 12 months to hire 1,000 people as it aims to create a Single Supervisory Mechanism for the 130 largest banks in the Eurozone. To make it even more challenging, all the roles are going to be based in Frankfurt and it predominantly wants to hire risk and compliance staff, who have been red hot for years.

2. BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas has unveiled some hiring sprees that will keep it busy well into 2014 and beyond. It’s planning on adding 1,300 people in Asia before 2016, will be bolstering its U.S headcount by 100-200, and will be bringing in 500 new staff in Germany.

3. Nomura

Nomura has been trying to boost its ranking in the U.S. M&A space for some time now, and has been adding investment bankers to help it do so. This hasn’t always been successful, but it’s continuing to recruit – with plans to add a further 20 people next year.

4. Bank of America Merrill Lynch

BAML has been hiring in London this year, particularly in fixed income, and views Europe as a key area of growth for its investment bank. It’s unveiled some big name recruits in 2013, and says that it plans to invest in people again next year.

5. BNY Mellon

The U.S.  bank has slowly been building its wealth management business throughout 2013, with a number of senior hires revealed across the world. By the end of 2014, the intention is to have bolstered its salesforce in wealth management by 50%, or around 100 new positions.

6. Deutsche Bank

Deutsche’s large expansion plans in Europe are not in the City of London. It intends to hire 700 people for its Dublin operation, predominantly in back office functions like trade finance, cash management and operations over the next two years. What’s more, the establishment of a new trading floor in Birmingham is continuing apace and it will move into a new office in the city next summer, having recruited close to 1,000 new staff.

7. Mediobanca

Italy’s largest investment bank is looking to expand into London, will be using the UK capital as its European base for sector and capital markets team, and is planning to hire bankers in 2014, following the appointment of Stefano Marsaglia from Barclays in early December.

8. KPMG

KPMG, like most Big Four consulting firms, has huge recruitment plans for 2014. It will be hiring 16,000 people in EMEA alone, including 9,000 graduates, and campus recruiting in the U.S. will increase by 30%, predominantly in its consulting arm.

9. Macquarie

Macquarie unveiled 10 new appointments in early December across equity sales, research and finance as well as electronic trading. This is likely to continue; Julian Wentzel, head of cash equities in Europe, said:  "We are making a significant investment in our core strategic areas of infrastructure and natural resources, building our electronic trading and equity finance capabilities and supporting them with a robust sales team.”

10. Citigroup

Citi has been among the more expansionary investment banks this year, and is going against the grain with its hiring plans for 2014. While some firms, notably JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, pull back from commodities, Citi will be increasing its sales team of around 80 people by 15% next year to grab a larger market share. Other banks to be building in this area include ABN Amro and Wells Fargo.

11. Capco

The financial services consultancy bolstered its headcount in Europe and the U.S. by 500 people this year. The plan is to add at least that number of people again throughout 2014 – risk, compliance and change management are particularly sought after.

12. Coutts

Coutts has been aggressively building its teams in emerging markets even when other wealth managers retreat. Singapore and Hong Kong are particular targets for next year. It currently has 450 staff working in these locations and plans to double the number of senior bankers in the “medium term”, according to Michael Blake, general manager for Coutts in Asia.

13. JPMorgan

Any risk and compliance staff looking for new opportunities in 2014 should look to JPMorgan. The bank is in the midst of a hiring spree that will eventually see 3,000 new recruits. Earlier this month, it also outlined plans to double its spending on controls to $2bn – expect even more hires next year.

14. Ernst & Young

EY is planning to add 10,600 people in the U.S. next year, with a particular focus in its advisory business, an area it’s also paying more attention to in Asia.

15. Old Mutual

Old Mutual achieved arguably the coup of the year when it managed to sway star fund manager Richard Buxton away from Schroders in March, which prompted a 79% uptick in sales across the firm. It has plans to hire more big names next year, with a particular focus on emerging market debt and equities.

16. BOC Fullerton Community Bank

Not one for the expats, perhaps, but BOC Fullerton – a bank that targets rural communities in China – is aiming to bolster headcount by 2,000 next year as it opens 80 new branches. There will also be risk, compliance and head office roles that could need international expertise.

17. Accenture

The consultancy has plans to add 50,000 people in fiscal 2014. Not all of these will be related to financial services, of course, but interestingly the firm is looking to hire people based on their social media presence. Bankers are famously shy on social media, especially Twitter.

18. NZX

Fancy a trip to Lord of the Rings country where you will be outnumbered by sheep 20 to one? NZ’s stock exchange, which has seen a surge in trading and capital raising throughout 2013, has plans to add an additional five people next year.

19. PwC

PwC is aiming to add 2,500 people in its U.S. consultancy practice alone next year and will be increasing its public sector hiring by 12% on this year during 2014. It’s also hiring over 4,500 people in the UK and 1,000 people in the MENA region next year.

20. Tesco Bank

North of the border in the UK, Tesco Bank is embarking on a fresh recruitment spree (having added 3,800 people since 2008) and will be hiring 300 people next year, according to a statement from the firm. 240 of these will be in customer service, but the remaining 60 will be across commercial banking, legal, marketing and risk.

21. UBS

A bank that's looking to reduce headcount by 10,000 people is not the obvious place to send your CV to, but as well as pulling back from its fixed income offerings, it's also hiring. For a start, there's a need to bolster its credit and rates team - something most banks are pulling back from - and it also has plans to bring in senior investment bankers next year.