Deutsche Bank Credit Analysts Tell Clients: ‘We’re Still Here’
Deutsche Bank Says Most Research to Continue After Trading Cuts
(Bloomberg) -- The staff remaining at Deutsche Bank want their customers to know they’re still there.
After a deluge of headlines the past two days announcing the elimination of 18,000 jobs and the shuttering of the equities unit, clients might have wondered how business was going to get done and who was going to do it.
Jim Reid, the global head of fundamental credit strategy, had an answer in his morning note Tuesday -- which was delivered a few hours later than usual. “As I’m sure you all will have seen, Deutsche Bank has announced a major transformation of its business,” the London-based analyst wrote. “We just wanted to make sure that everyone was aware that DB Research will remain at the forefront of the firm.”
Deutsche Bank will combine equity research and research sales into what it calls the Company Research and Advisory Group “to strengthen ongoing connectivity with institutional clients,” according to Reid’s note.
Not all analysts escaped the ax. The cuts included almost all Asia-based equity analysts, along with and most of the sales and trading team. In a note to clients in Australia on Monday, Deutsche Bank said it would stop providing local research as well as some sales and trading services.
Broadly, Deutsche Bank opted to keep equity research to support its business of advising companies on issuing, Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing told analysts on Monday in London.“We want to keep that in particular in core and selected industries,” the CEO said. He declined to specify how many people work in research at the bank.
The lender will continue to publish “high quality independent” economic, fixed income and thematic research, a Deutsche Bank spokesman said in response to questions from Bloomberg. It’s also committed to providing company research coverage “of key sectors in Europe and the U.S.,” he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Comfort in Frankfurt at ncomfort1@bloomberg.net;Katie Linsell in London at klinsell@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, James Hertling, Ross Larsen
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