UK spreadbetter and CFD specialist CMC Markets has seen a wave of departures in recent weeks, which inevitably got me wondering if all is well there. Among those who have decided that the grass is greener elsewhere are sales traders Paul Chesterton (see People moves), Michael Owens and Sam Goult; Charlie Leech, Mark Akred, Laura Stuart and Elliot Grant in partners; and Felix Goerlich, a company lawyer.
According to CMC, there is nothing to worry about. “There’s no big issue here. We are always sorry when good people leave us. However the labour market is hotting up at present and following 12 months without many changes, there’s now a lot of movement in the sector. We have a great team at CMC and we continue to invest in attracting and retaining talent.”
CMC has long been one of the City’s well-publicised success stories, rightly regarded as one of the pioneers of the FX market. It notably received an investment from Goldman Sachs back in November 2007; Goldman’s 10% stake valued the company at £1.4 billion. CMC reported a profit of £39.8 million in its year ended March 2008, but a year later it reported a loss of £15.4