This man has just quit Silicon Valley to join Lloyds Banking Group in London

While investment banks bemoan the exodus of talent to Silicon Valley, fintech firms or – in the advisory divisions – corporate development roles, one former senior researcher has quit Palo Alto for the City of London.

Adrian Walkling has just joined Lloyds Banking Group as a managing director in sales within its wholesale banking division.

For the past two years, Walkling appeared to be the archetypical Wall Street escapee. He was group head of research across equity, FICC and macroeconomics at Standard Chartered in Palo Alto, but left in December 2014 to join software firm Medallia as VP of customer experience insights.

His latest move is another direction in a career full of turning points. Before his last role at Standard Chartered, he was global head of sales, financial institutions at the bank in Singapore. Before this, he was head of sales and structure for FICC products within UBS’s investment bank in both London and Zurich. Walkling joined UBS from Credit Suisse where he was global head of FX structuring.

Walkling is not a typical investment banking salesman – he has a PhD in quantitative paleoclimatology, for a start – but his latest move shows that quitting a senior banking job isn’t necessarily a one-way street.

Contact: pclarke@efinancialcareers.com

Photo: Getty Images