Emerging markets trader reinvents self at Credit Suisse

If you are an emerging markets trader looking for a job, you may find one at Credit Suisse: the Swiss bank is strengthening its credit trading team and has recruited someone with recent emerging markets experience.

The Swiss bank hired Michael Konstantinou as a director of investment grade (IG) credit trading.  Prior to joining CS, Konstantinou worked on the emerging markets desk at Barclays. He began his career as an investment grade credit trader at the British bank in 2007 and only switched into emerging markets last year. - This undoubtedly made it easier to escape back into investment grade.

Konstantinou's move comes as both Deutsche and Nomura have been cutting emerging markets staff, leaving plenty of emerging markets traders out of work. Credit Suisse has historically been strong in emerging markets trading, but its fixed income business as a whole has under-performed this year. - Fixed income trading revenues fell 1% year-on-year in the first half of 2018 compared to a 9% increase at rival UBS, a 10% increase at Morgan Stanley, and a 32% increase at Goldman Sachs.

Credit Suisse has been making cuts to its fixed income trading business this year as the bank seeks to cut CHF550m of costs from across the bank in 2018. Konstantinou's arrival suggests it's also hiring.

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