Deutsche Bank Bond-Trading Staff Shuffle as Equities Slashed
Chief Executive Officer Sewing announced a sweeping restructuring plan that includes a plan to “resize” fixed-income operations.
(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG’s bond traders may not be suffering the same fate as many of their equities colleagues. But big changes are still being made -- and among the top ranks.
Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing announced a sweeping restructuring plan Sunday that includes a plan to “resize” fixed-income operations. The likely departure of fixed-income trading head John Pipilis will concentrate power in the hands of Ram Nayak, who’s been the senior-most bond-trading employee at the investment bank, where he’s worked since 2009. He’ll lead fixed-income and currency sales and trading, reporting to Sewing, Deutsche Bank said Sunday. James Davies, head of Americas fixed income, also is expected to stay on board, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Corporate Clients
Davies said in an interview last month that Deutsche Bank would continue to push further into commercial real estate in the U.S., a business that’s often ranked as one of the top three and competes with local behemoths like JPMorgan Chase & Co. The bank is also known for its work with Donald Trump before he became president. Davies said the firm would expand in structured finance, where scores of traders have gone on to become leaders in the industry.
While Deutsche Bank said that the rates business will face reductions, credit and foreign-exchange products are particularly relevant for corporate clients across the globe. In the first quarter, Deutsche Bank’s fixed-income business fared worse than those of peers. The German lender has posted three years of declines for the business, ending last year with less a third of the revenue generated in 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. JPMorgan analysts have said they’re concerned about the bank’s inability to turn the business around.
The bank is seeking to reduce risk-weighted assets by about 40% as it exits equities sales and trading, pares the fixed income business and winds down its existing non-strategic portfolio.
Pipilis has been a deputy to investment-bank head Garth Ritchie, who’s leaving Deutsche Bank. Pipilis, who has been at Deutsche Bank for more than a decade, last year stepped into the fixed-income oversight role previously held by Nayak.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sonali Basak in New York at sbasak7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Dan Reichl, Josh Friedman
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