The New Top Banking Job You've Never Thought Of. Lay-offs Everywhere

If you've been keeping up to date with investment banks' second quarter results, you might be wishing you were working in M&A, or maybe rates and FX or equities trading. These are the fiery finance jobs of 2015. But they are due to be outclassed by another finance-related job which wields all the power at this point in the cost-cutting cycle: the strategist.

Right now, it's the banking strategist who is in ascendant. By which we mean the person who can devise and implement a strategy for the entire bank, rather than the product strategists who advise on investments.

You might think this kind of strategizing would be the work of the CEO, but you'd be all wrong. CEOs can't devise and implement strategy alone - they need professional help. Hence, John McFarlane at Barclays is hiring a 'strategy and transformation czar' even before he appoints a new CEO. The czar in question will reportedly 'accelerate cost cutting' at the bank and act as an 'enforcer.' Deutsche Bank hired Sam Wisnia to do a similar job last January. BNP Paribas, meanwhile, has turned to external consultants for strategic counsel: Boston Consulting Group and Oliver Wyman are reportedly working on a report titled 'the CIB of tomorrow' which will bring the deepest (job) cuts at the French investment bank since the financial crisis.

Separately, the rise of the strategist is closely correlated with the return of redundancies. BNP isn't the only bank about to slice away entire teams of investment bank staff. Barclays has reportedly begun cutting 150 people from its investment bank, managing directors included. After making an average of 100 of its investment bank staff redundant during every month over the past year, RBS said last week that its investment bank will be nearly insignificant by 2017. And Deutsche Bank, despite not offering many new strategic pointers during last week's call, is already closing overseas operations in Malta, Finland, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand and Peru. We're not even in redundancy season yet; things are likely to get worse.

Survival Of The Fittest (eFinancialCareers)

New investment banking analysts are competing against one another for the best jobs. It's not pretty.

Powers Of Concentration (eFinancialCareers) 

The pass rate of CFA level I is notoriously low. Imagine taking the exam while your wife is giving birth.

Big Cuts At Deutsche Bank (Seeking Alpha)

John Cryan says he'll be doing more than cutting costs 'horizontally' at Deutsche Bank - he'll be taking out entire businesses and product lines.

French Bank Cutting Costs (Bloomberg)  

SocGen is cutting headcount in New York.

Morgan Stanley MD Joins Boutique (Reuters)

Arxis Capital, the market making firm formed last year by former Bank of America Corp employees and ex-Knight Capital chief Thomas Joyce, hired Jay Dweck as chief technology officer and head of rates and currency trading. Dweck was previously an MD at Morgan Stanley. 

The Lure of Tech (Poets and Quants)

Ex-J.P. Morgan bankers are doing MBAs at the likes of Wharton and spending their summer interning in Silicon Valley. 

Pilot Banker Dies in Accident (Bloomberg) 

Kevin Whyman, head of European asset-backed-securities sales at Credit Suisse, died at Chris Evans' Car Fest at the weekend.

Rodent Statues in the City (Business Insider)

Weird statues depicting bankers as rats have appeared in the heart of London's financial district.

Quote of the Day:

"I think it would be an attractive thing to do but a very unattractive place to get to," why Lloyd Blankfein will not be running for president.