Former Deutsche investment banking vice-chair joins KKR two years after retirement

The former vice chairman of Deutsche Bank’s financial sponsors group, who retired from the firm in 2012 after nearly 20 years, has joined the capital markets division of private equity firm KKR.

Sekhar Bahadur joined KKR Capital Markets in early May, according to filings on the Financial Conduct Authority, more than two years after he left Deutsche Bank.

Bahadur retired from Deutsche Bank in February 2012 after 19 years working at the bank, latterly as vice chairman of global banking for the Financial Sponsors Group. His exact role at KKR’s capital markets division is not clear and the firm didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Since his retirement, Bahadur has been engaged in a number of executive positions including sitting on the board of Dubai-based investment company Istithmar World and being a trustee of the University of Chicago, Booth, from which he gained his MBA.

Bahadur is another example of senior investment bankers finding it difficult to simply enjoy their retirement. Christian Brodie, who was deputy chairman of UBS’s investment bank, retired earlier this year, but now runs his own investment firm along with a host of executive positions and charity commitments.

Bahadur is an investment banking veteran with a wealth of experience and some deep relationships gained over 30 years working in the industry across a range of functions. He started his career at Salomon Brothers in 1983, in M&A, equity and debt financing functions in both New York and London, eventually becoming director responsible for Southern Europe M&A.

He joined the Bankers Trust in 1992, which was later taken over by Deutsche Bank. From 2001, he was co-head of leveraged finance at the bank, but later became managing director, vice chairman of Deutsche’s Financial Sponsors Group.

He also has a degree in Chemistry from the University of Chicago.