Bankers that cover financial institutions’ debt capital should be in greater demand than ever given market turmoil surrounding their client base. Banks have always been the largest component of debt new issues but now are forecast to dominate primary flows to an even greater extent because of their pent-up demand for financing. Not only are many of them in desperate need of funds following the closure of structured finance markets, they are also selling bonds that earn underwriters a greater amount of fees than was the case pre-crunch.
However, this select group of originators has endured almost as much turbulence as banks have – with a large number of firms losing senior officials.
One of the most surprising recent departure was the retirement of Gary Abrahams from UBS. Abrahams is only in his early 40s but is a widely respected figure for his success with UK financial institutions in particular. Fortunately for UBS they are able to replace Abrahams with another respected figure – Frank Kennedy – who moves back into FIG origination from fixed income.
One of his competitors says that Abrahams was probably the highest revenue earner in the UK FIG business over the past few years but probably not the highest paid given his success because he didn’t move around enough.