Morning Coffee: HSBC's "thoughtful" layoffs have a sting in the tail. Asset managers ejecting non-investment staff

Can a job cut ever be "thoughtful"? If you're on the receiving end, maybe not - but this is what Michael Roberts, the man recently appointed to lead HSBC's corporate and institutional bank, said he was all about just a few weeks ago. 

Get Morning Coffee ☕ in your inbox. Sign up here.

It's now becoming apparent what Roberts meant. Thoughtful lay-offs, in the context of HSBC, entail applying again for your own job all over again to determine whether you're the right person to do it. 

Bloomberg reported yesterday that HSBC has invited its managers to self-apply as it seeks to take out management layers in the style of Citi. The own-job-applications are being pitched as the conception of CEO Georges Elhedery, but there are suspicions that Roberts' team will be particularly effected.

This is because Roberts is managing HSBC's newly combined corporate and institutional banking division, combining its corporate and its commercial bank. These two businesses, which were run separately until late October, contain considerable overlap, particularly in the middle and back office functions. 

As Robert's managing directors and 'general managers' burnish CVs and contemplate thorny questions like, 'Tell me about a time you overcame an obstacle to solve a problem,' the process threatens to become a tournament between HSBC's commercial and investment bankers. Investment bankers consider themselves unremittingly superior. Commercial bankers consider themselves unstintingly underpaid. Both have the same clients, but are selling them different things. They could sell the same things. Senior staff in both areas have built considerable fiefdoms over the years. It could get messy.

HSBC will probably want to get the process over as quickly as possible. The danger is that its most senior people now spend the next few weeks mired in the contemplation of their own futures and how best to scupper their rivals. Staff further down the hierarchy are looking on with trepidation. "This is a lot of uncertainty and disruption," observes one. HSBC senior people who aren't let go might be demoted instead: the bank is doing away with general managers and making them mere MDs. 

Separately, L&G isn't the only asset management firm trimming heads. Bloomberg reports that Boston-based Wellington Asset Management is also cutting staff. Like L&G, it's not focusing on portfolio managers but will be pursuing people in other departments. Unlike HSBC, it won't be asking them to interview for jobs first. It will be inviting them to go quietly and take voluntary redundancy.

Meanwhile...

Sergio Ermotti said it's not easy moving Credit Suisse clients onto UBS systems. So far it's only done Luxembourg and Hong Kong. Singapore is next. Switzerland is the hardest. (Reuters) 

Goldman Sachs wants to spin out its digital-assets platform into a new company for large financial firms to create, trade and settle financial instruments via blockchain technology. (Bloomberg) 

Tom Geary, a former Citadel business development manager, is launching a new crypto hedge fund in January 2025. (Institutional Investor) 

Donald Trump's social media firm is buying Bakkt, a cryptocurrency trading venue owned by Intercontinental Exchange. (Financial Times) 

Ken Griffin likes investing in people. “The single-best investments I’ve ever made” are investments in people. “Nothing else comes close. You find somebody who’s really bright, really driven and creative, and you get behind them 110%. Nothing beats that investment.” (Bloomberg) 

Someone is paying cash for apartments in the 22-story condominium tower at the centre of Citadel's new realm in Miami. Is it Ken? (WSJ) 

Lazard hired Jennifer Tedesko as a managing director in its private-capital advisory business. (Bloomberg) 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal 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 libellous (in which case it won’t.) Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libellous (in which case it won’t.)