Citi's head of IG credit sales has just joined a small player in London

John Ream, the former head of IG credit sales at Citigroup, has just joined Stifel Financial as a managing director in London.

Ream left Citigroup in April after more than 12 years at the bank. He has just resurfaced at Stifel Financial as a managing director in its sales business in London.

Globally, Stifel is far from a boutique - it has around 5,000 employees - but in the City it's still a small player. It acquired Oriel Securities in 2014, bringing together around 250 staff in London. Ream joins a fixed income sales team that has just 40 people across London, Spain, Scandinavia and Switzerland. It also has eight coverage traders in its European operation and 25 research analysts.

Ream's move is indicative of a number of senior bankers making the move from a large institution into a smaller firm. Both Jefferies and Evercore have been building their London operations in recent months, while the likes of Berenberg and Exane have been recruiting researchers from bulge bracket banks.

Ream spent 12 years at Citigroup, having joined in 2004. Previously he worked as an executive director at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 10 years, latterly as head of the UK credit sales desk. Before that, he worked at Merrill Lynch.

Ream's departure from Citigroup came at a time the bank was cutting 70 jobs in its sales and trading unit in the UK.

Contact: pclarke@efinancialcareers.com

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