Morning Coffee: Goldman banker's great debt to a woman he met in the gym. New most desirable job in the world

Harvey Schwartz is a rich man. As COO of Goldman Sachs, his base salary alone is $1.85m. Had he been a personal trainer, he would have earned a lot less. The median personal trainer salary in New Jersey is $45k and the life of a personal trainer has been compared to a kind of modern-day serfdom. 

This matters, because Schwartz nearly became a personal trainer in New Jersey. The fact that he is today running Goldman Sachs rather than strengthening someone else's abs is thanks to an woman called Linda whom he met as a client in a New Jersey gym whilst pursuing his passion for vicarious physical perfection.

Linda persuaded Harvey that there was more to life than working in a gymnasium. Schwartz says Linda "was really pushing me on." Rather than encouraging him to improve his fitness levels, she encouraged him to apply to college (university if you're in the UK). And when Schwartz applied to Rutgers and didn't get in, Linda called up and hussled on his behalf until they gave him an interview and relented.

Without Linda, Harvey Schwartz would therefore not be what he is today. Schwartz says we all need a Linda (also known as a mentor), but that finding someone who believes in you and is willing to put themselves on the line in the process is no easy thing. Lindas don't come easy. Next time you're in the gym, you might want to keep your eyes peeled.

Separately, the most desirable jobs in the world are not in finance. The New York Times is advertising one of the most desirable jobs in the world. It is a job as a travel writer; in 24 hours, over 2,400 people have applied. You will not beat that advertising a trainee position in a top hedge fund.

Meanwhile:

In London. GS still investing in our big new Euro headquarters here. Expecting/hoping to fill it up, but so much outside our control.#Brexit pic.twitter.com/XwrIcqwM1t

— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) October 30, 2017

UBS is only saying that it won't move many jobs out of London post-Brexit because it plans to engage in "back to back" trading for a few years. Under this system, trades on the ground in the EU would be replicated by matching transactions on in the UK, allowing the risk to be booked on the UK balance sheet. If it happens at all, however. this will only be a temporary phenomenon post-Brexit. (Financial Times) 

HSBC says it might not move all those 1,000 trading jobs to Paris after all. (Reuters) 

Time to work for a French VC. (Politico)  

John Cryan says Deutsche Bank is being hobbled by European rules mandating that bonuses be deferred while U.S. banks can still pay however they like. (Bloomberg) 

J.P. Morgan is worried that markets are in line for a painful correction and is dialing back on risk in leveraged finance. (Business Insider) 

Morgan Stanley will now resume suing its brokers who leave for rivals and take clients with them. (Reuters) 

After returning to profit in the year ending March, the profitability in Nomura's international division (which houses its investment bank in London and New York) fell 96% in the last quarter. (Reuters)  

A former Citadel economist just became the chief economist in the British treasury. (Reuters) 

Robots are coming for research analysts' jobs. (Quartz) 

Bloomberg's new London office has hidden carbon dioxide sensors that can sniff out where people are breathing so air flows can be directed to where they are most needed and cut off where they are not.. Also, it has nearly water-free toilets that make a whooshing sound. (Financial Times) 

How teleportation could actually happen. (Wired)  

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