Deutsche Bank's ex-head of U.S. equity sales to join mystery hedge fund

Any Deutsche Bank insiders concerned for the future of Craig Bench, the irrepressibly good-natured co-head of U.S. equity sales who mysteriously left yesterday, can be reassured: Bench seemingly has a new job to go to.

Although neither Deutsche Bank nor Bench himself have commented on Bench's next move, his now former colleagues say he has something lined up. It's apparently with a hedge fund.

"Craig is joining some guys from Surveyor Capital who are starting their own firm," claims one DB equities trader.  "They don't seem to have a name for it yet."

If the rumours are right, Bench will be the second senior U.S. equities professional at Deutsche Bank in a week to quit for a more exciting offer. Last week Yao-Chung King ('Yao King'), Deutsche's longstanding head of U.S. program trading and one of its biggest producers, left too. King too is supposed to be joining the buy-side.

As Deutsche prepares to announce what are likely to be quite mediocre bonuses, it seems its U.S. business at least is being assailed by hedge funds. Bloomberg reported today that Deutsche Bank's equities business lost around $750m last year. 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available. Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)