Morning Coffee: Top tier banker in 3rd tier firm prevails, again. Naughty Deutsche trader hired by hedge fund

It is not the case that the best people in banking work in the so-called 'first tier banks' - the Goldman Sachs, JPMorgans, Deutsches, Citis, Morgan Stanleys and BAML's of this world. Nor do they necessarily work in the big European investment banks of the 'second tier'. In some cases, the best people are happy with the relative obscurity of smaller and lesser known firms. Andrew Wood is one of those people.

Yesterday, Wood won the Thomson Reuters Extel Survey Award for the best pan-European equity researcher for the eighth year running. He doesn't work for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which won the award for the best European equity research house. Nor does he work for UBS, which came second, or for Morgan Stanley, which came third. Wood works for Sanford C. Bernstein, which didn't rank in the top three for any of the firm-wide awards. 

Wood's continued success and prevalence over rivals suggests that - in equity research at least - you can be a top player at a smaller house if you have the strong support of your clients. The Extel Awards are based upon the results to a polling process involving 2,600 buyside firms and 700,000 votes. In the past, Wood (a household and personal products analyst) has received praise from clients for loving to dig into the 'nitty-gritty' of companies and having an 'infectious passion' for his work. That counts more than having a big brand behind you.

Separately, hedge fund Fortress Investments has hired ex-Deutsche Bank trader Christopher Fahy for its liquid markets business. While banks are letting go of FX traders, Fortress seems to be hiring them - it's also recruited 47 year-old Jeffrey Feig, Citi's former head of G10 FX trading, as co-president of the liquid markets business and co-CIO of its macro fund. Bloomberg reported that Fahy was let go from Deutsche Bank in February for, 'inappropriate communications.' 

Meanwhile:

Now that Feig's gone, Citi has very few senior figures in its FX business. (WSJ)

Deutsche Bank has hired Dan Voloshin from Barclays for its US CMBS trading unit. (Bloomberg)  

Deutsche Bank has named Sylvie Matherat, a former top official of the Bank of France, to head its global regulatory affairs department. (Reuters)

Sylvie Matherat is the first woman on Deutsche’s executive committee. (Bloomberg) 

BNP Paribas wants to hire almost 100 wealth management advisors for Banc West in the US. (Bloomberg)

Trading revenues at Jefferies fell a mere 5% in the three months to May. A Goldman Sachs analyst said Jefferies may be gaining market share by taking risks that banks are avoiding amid regulatory changes. (Bloomberg) 

The Bank of England paid £200k in relocation costs to move Mark Carney and his family to England. (The Times)

The European Banking Authority is moving out of the City to Canary Wharf, where office space is a bit cheaper. (Financial Times) 

Archbishop of Canterbury says banks must show an ‘inner discipline’ on pay deals. (Guardian) 

Merrill Lynch advisors unsettled by shrinking bulls. (Investment News) 

JPMorgan interns use the phrase, ‘hey gang.’ (Twitter) 

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