This top tech analyst has just quit banking for a CFO role at social media monitoring firm

If you work in equity research now, you need to be creative. MiFID II is shrinking job options on the sell-side, and an increasing number of analysts are switching to fund managers – potentially to avoid awkward conversations about working for free at an independent research provider.

Another option is to switch into the industry you cover. The latest example of this is David Reynolds, who headed up Jefferies media and internet equity research team in London.

Reynolds has just left the U.S. bank, according to filings on the Financial Conduct Authority register. His public profile suggests that he’s just taken a role as chief financial officer at Brandwatch, an analytics platform that uses social media as a source for research.

Brandwatch, which has around 400 employees, recently concluded that companies that avoid taking a stance on U.S. President Donald Trump on social media tend to get a boost in perception. Its research also suggested that women were more likely than men to use emojis with tears.

Reynolds joined Jefferies in 2011 after seven years out of the industry, having previously worked at both J.P. Morgan and Dresdner Kleinwort.

He has had no shortage of accolades since returning to banking – he was named number one ranked stock picker by the Reuters Starmine Awards, in the non-food retail sector in 2017 and in media in the 2016 awards.

He’s the second senior analyst at Jefferies to depart for the sector they cover in the past 12 months. Edward Plank, Jefferies’ lead analyst for footwear and athletic apparel, joined Footlocker as a senior director in business development in December.

Tech analysts are more likely to move across to the sectors they cover than other researchers, however. In May, Edward Hill-Wood, managing director and head of European internet research at Morgan Stanley in London left for a role as investor relations director at pay-TV and e-commerce company Naspers in Hong Kong.

Contact: pclarke@efinancialcareers.com