Morning Coffee: 49 year-old Citi analyst shows how to reinvigorate a career. Obscure fund manager beats everyone

Todd Bault has been around. The 49 year-old managing director on Citi's financials research team ranked as one of the best analysts of the year in Institutional Investor's survey in 2005. He's been an analyst at Sanford Bernstein and he's worked at Citi since 2013.  Bault (seen here looking sternly humorous) might fade into obscurity, however, were it not for his ability to think dramatically outside the box.

When you're an equities analyst, it can make sense to make an audacious call, and Bault has done just that. In a note issued yesterday, he suggested that the world would be a better place if only Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc.were to buy American International Group Inc (AIG), expand it into financial services and then turn the former insurer into a Fintech lab.

As Dealbreaker points out, this will clearly never happen. Bault, however, is onto something. In a single flight of fancy he's a) got his name out there and b) indulged his own fintech whims. Bault himself is not immune to the urge to quit banking and do something more interesting in the 'fintech space' - He left the industry for a year in 2012 to become chief marketing officer at Extraordinary Reinsurance (a company whose 'financial technology creates the first liquid market place for insurance contracts'), but came back and joined Citi. You can take the man out of fintech, but you can't take fintech out the man...

Separately, who's familiar with Haddington, a small town in East Lothian, Scotland, population less than 9,000? It is here that you will find Tim Wood, a portfolio manager at McInroy & Wood Portfolios. Financial News reports that Wood has achieved returns of 178.99% over the past decade, making him one of the top fund managers in the world. We hadn't heard of Haddington either.

Meanwhile:

Ex-banker now working for a fintech firm: "There’s a fundamental change taking place in banks. They see the unbelievable costs in their technology, and if there are ways to bring them down by working with outside firms, that’s got to be meaningful." (Bloomberg)  

Three heads of equity research leave UBS for destinations unknown. (Business Insider)

Credit derivatives trader leaves Goldman Sachs in London. (Bloomberg)

Man leaves Goldman Sachs for DLA Piper. (Pitchbook) 

Dave Olsen, global head of clearing at J.P. Morgan, will be leaving the post to “pursue new opportunities.' (Financial News)

Jacques Callaghan, the co-head of investment banking in Europe at Canadian bank Canaccord Genuity, has joined Macquarie Capital. (Financial News)

Jamie Dimon will be far too risk averse now he owns all that stock in JPM. (Dealbreaker)

Natixis hired Peter Cui from Jefferies for ABS trading. (Global Capital)

SocGen post trade services head joins Blockchain start-up. (Finextra) 

Trainer inspires overweight bankers to get in shape with photos of ex-girlfriends' new ripped boyfriends. (Dealbreaker)

Ex-US military intelligence officer is now surveilling electronic communications at Barclays. (Bloomberg) 

British bankers are more than welcome in Paris. (Politico) 

Photo credit: Burke/Triolo Productions/Stockbyte/Thinkstock