29-year-old equity derivative VPs are being hired on large packages

This is a good time to work in equity derivatives. Equities sales and trading revenues are booming and equity derivatives revenues are booming most of all. They were "exceptionally strong" in the first half of the year in the estimation of market intelligence firm Tricumen. Speaking to CNBC last week, Kevin Kelly, the global co-head of equities at Goldman Sachs, said volatility around single name stocks, combined with market appreciation, is generating demand for hedging: "The equity market generally has behaved as there’s AI winners and AI losers, and there was nothing in between."

In the circumstances, equity derivatives professionals are suddenly desirable, particularly at vice president (VP) level as banks build out their teams. 

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Headhunters and market participants say there's a comparative shortage of VP talent in the equity derivatives market. "There are limited candidates at VP level as a fair few have gone to hedge funds," says Marcus Newman, partner at search firm Omerta Group, a Kingsley Gate Company. "In turn, this has inflated their price, particularly in flow."

Movers in the London market include Rob Angel, a VP sales trader who has just joined Morgan Stanley after seven years at JPMorgan, where he most recently traded listed derivatives for hedge funds and clients in the Middle East. Angel did not respond to a request to comment for this article. Goldman Sachs recently hired Elena Su, an executive director (ED) in flow and exotic derivative sales from JPMorgan in Hong Kong.

Sources suggest that this year's market for equity derivatives hires is unusual to the extent that US banks are poaching from rival US houses, instead of pulling cheaper people from French banks. US bank employees tend to work with larger clients and can have a more immediate effect on revenues, but they cost more upfront. 

One equity derivatives VP told us the packages on offer in the market are large and that people are being offered significant pay rises to move. "There is silly money around," he said. "Suddenly there's a lot of appetite to bid people up."

Morgan Stanley declined to comment for this article, but the bank is thought to have been among the more active recruiters among top US houses for equity derivatives this year. Following various buy-side departures in EMEA after bonuses were paid, Morgan Stanley has not only added Angel from JPMorgan but Virgil Meyer from Barclays in London and Henri Bussonnière, who was last seen at Nomura, in Hong Kong. Last year, JPMorgan's equities business outperformed Morgan Stanley's in terms of revenue growth.  

"Morgan Stanley are out there with all guns blazing," says one headhunter. "They're trying to backfill their vacancies with the best talent in the market." Next year they might be incentivised to pay existing VPs enough to stick around.

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