UBS FX big-wigs team up for new consultancy

2017 is the year for senior investment banking employees to quit big firms, go it alone and then offer their experience back to the types of institutions they’ve just fled. The latest managing directors to leave banking to go it alone come from UBS.

Richard Longmore, a managing director and co-head of foreign exchange, rates and credit (FRC) distribution at UBS for both Europe and the U.S., has departed to launch Finoesis, a new firm that offers advice to sell-side and buy-side firms on how to handle the shifting landscape in fixed income currencies and commodities (FICC).

Longmore is joined by Sandeep Varma, who for the past two years has been head of client strategy for FX, rates and credit within EMEA at UBS.

Longmore joined UBS in July 2010, as a managing director and head of European FX sales, from Barclays Capital, where he was also an MD. Both men worked together at both Barclays – Varma was a COO within Barclays’ investment bank between 2006 and 2010 before moving to Credit Suisse.

Finoesis describes itself as a consultant focused on the fixed income landscape, which is undergoing “rapid change”. “The contraction of liquidity and developments in technology are leading to the emergence of new business approaches and new market players,” they wrote on their website. “We believe there are untapped opportunities for industry participants to grow revenues and/or become more efficient.”

It’s also another example of senior banking professionals quitting large institutions to launch consultancies focused on the financial sector. A trio of Credit Suisse COOs, including its head of Brexit strategy David Long, left to start a consultancy called Pall Mall Risk Reduction, while Jefferies’ former head of international equities at Jefferies, Andrew Shortland, departed to launch his own consulting firm.

Meanwhile, former UBS investment bankers are also reinventing themselves. Juan Luis Bellon, a managing director focused on investment banking deals from family offices and billionaire wealth management clients at UBS, and Juan Rodriguez Andrade, the former head of equity-linked transactions at the bank, became fintech angel investors. Andrade has since become COO of data analytics firm Provenance Technologies.

Have a tip, story or comment? Contact: pclarke@efinancialcareers.com

Photo: Getty Images