Morning Coffee: Trader who left Credit Suisse aged 40 makes small fortune. Chilling words at BNP Paribas

If you're a Credit Suisse fixed income trader who's lost your job, you might want to look across to Chris Goekjian for inspiration. A former global head of fixed income trading at Credit Suisse, Goekjian left the bank in 2001 and set up a hedge fund. Fifteen years later, he's ready to retire.

Financial News reports that Goekjian is leaving Cheyne Capital - the hedge fund he's worked for since 2009 - to, "focus on managing his personal wealth." There's no mention of how much personal wealth Goekjian has amassed, but we can only assume that it's a lot: Cheyne Capital has been known to hand its partners £10m+ per annum and Goekjian worked there for nine years. He also spent 10 years at Credit Suisse, six years at Banker's Trust, and eight years at Altedge Capital, a hedge fund he founded. Aged 55, Goekjian will now busy himself with managing all his money and sitting on a few Cheyne investment committees. 

Credit Suisse fixed income traders who've lost their jobs with a three month payoff and a diminutive 2015 bonus to fall back on, may look at Goekjian with a touch of envy.  Timing was on his side and not on theirs.  Goekjian (meaning "man with blue eyes") arrived in the City of London just as fixed income derivatives were taking off. He left Credit Suisse in 2001, just when setting up your own hedge fund was still imminently possible and he stayed at one of the London's biggest hedge funds long enough to ensure that his children's children's children will live forever in London's Zone One. His was the archetypal finance career arc; unfortunately, it doesn't really exist any more.

Separately, BNP Paribas has reportedly been giving the corporate and investment banking staff it wants to get rid of two options: 1) They can leave, or 2) They can accept "mobility." Mobility is a euphemism for moving to another job inside BNP Paribas and being paid less. Forcible demotion, in other words.

Meanwhile:

More confusion at Credit Suisse as October's plan to run asset management as a subdivision of international wealth management is dropped. (Reuters)

Revenues at Credit Suisses's markets division are expected to fall by up to 45% in the first quarter. (CityAm)

People don't want to leave Deutsche Bank: "Voluntary attrition rates in our investment-banking businesses are markedly better than or in line with those of recent years, which speaks to the commitment and loyalty of our employees.” (Bloomberg)

The weird world of working for Barclays-non core unit. (Euromoney) 

Ex-Barclays boss Antony Jenkins has been meeting all sorts of people about his (as yet undisclosed) fintech venture. (ThisisMoney)

Knight Capital Group (KCG) trader is becoming global head of trading at AQR. (Risk)

The Eurozone is almost unique as a currency area in allowing a majority of euro-denominated business to be cleared outside its own jurisdiction – that is, in London...Outside the EU, City banks would also have no guarantee of access to ECB liquidity. Most of the time this wouldn’t matter, but in a crisis it certainly does, and will therefore weigh on the question of where to locate a bank’s European operations. (Telegraph)

Jamie Dimon says J.P. Morgan has built its own “extraordinary in-house big data capabilities — we think as good as any in Silicon Valley — populated with more than 200 analysts and data scientists.” (Wharton)

Don't say, "I really want to work for Goldman Sachs, it's the best firm in the world." (Business Insider) 

Former Goldman Sachs partner is managing Donald Trump's campaign finances. (Marketwatch)

There is a correlation between emotional stability and confidence. (NCBI) 

Wealthy banker rejects the paternal millions. (AFR)

Photo credit: Pot of Gold by Jeremy Schultz is licensed under CC BY 2.0.