These two Goldman Sachs and Deutsche M&A MDs have just made big career changes

Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank have lost senior investment bankers focused on the retail sector, who have just made the leap into corporate development and investment roles.

Michael Casey, the head of EMEA retail investment banking at Goldman Sachs, left the bank after nearly 14 years earlier this month and has just joined L1 Retail as a senior investment partner. L1 Retail has $3bn in assets to invest in retail businesses, and is one part of the LetterOne investment group which has Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman as its chairman. Edward Eisler, the Goldman Sachs partner turned philanthropist and hedge fund manager, is also on its board.

Meanwhile, Steven Varlakhov, a managing director in Deutsche Bank's consumer and retail investment banking division, has also quit. He joined Associated British Foods as head of corporate development and M&A earlier this month. Varlakhov spent nearly 16 years working at Deutsche, having joined its graduate scheme as an intern conversion in 2001.

Varlakhov joins the growing ranks of senior bankers making the leap to the buy-side or going into corporate development roles, although more recently more TMT bankers have made the move across to internet or software companies to head up their M&A business.

Less usual is Casey's move across to the buy-side after reaching the senior ranks in investment banking. More recently, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan have been losing analysts and associates to private equity firms instead.