- It's been one of the active years in senior investment banking hires and exits since the financial crisis, according to top Wall Street headhunters.
- Business Insider reviewed executive search reports detailing nearly 300 investment banking moves at the managing director level or higher this year.
- We're hearing that banks are still actively searching and looking to hire, so there could still be some shoes yet to drop in 2018.
We're well into the fourth quarter, and investment banks are still raiding each other for senior-level, cream-of-the-crop talent.
That's not how it usually works.
If you hire a top banker now, you'll likely have to cover the bonus they would've earned at their previous shop - a pricey proposition that amounts to paying them for a year of work they did for a rival. Heading into November, Wall Street firms are typically sitting tight with what they've got and hunkering down to close out the year on a strong foot.
But this isn't a typical year - not by a long shot.
For starters, there's been an unprecedented amount of shakeups at the highest ranks of bulge-bracket investment banks: Citigroup reorganized its investment bank; David Solomon took over for Lloyd Blankfein as CEO of Goldman Sachs; and investment banking honcho Christian Meissner left Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
When key dominoes at the top of a bank fall, it can have a cascading effect: The new power brokers pick their own lieutenants, who in turn have their own favorites, and loyalists to the old guard can find themselves on the outside looking in.
According to top Wall Street headhunters, this is the most active year of hires and departures by senior investment bankers since the financial crisis.
We reviewed reports and spoke with executives at several premier investment-banking search firms and found nearly 300 hires or departures at the managing director level or higher in the US this year.
Julie Choi, CEO of CBK Partners, formerly known as Choi & Burns, said 2018 was the most robust year of hiring among the senior ranks - both in terms of quality and quantity - she's seen since the meltdown in 2008.
In part, this is because it's not just boutiques and independents picking off talent from global investment banks anymore.
"In past years, bulge-bracket firms were filling roles as departures occurred, which created a musical chairs between one firm and another. That doesn't really reflect growth," Choi said. "What's really different this year is that every firm is looking to take the hill - both independent and bulge bracket."
Look no further than Goldman Sachs. Historically reticent to make senior lateral hires, the investment bank has brought in at least 13 dealmaker MDs in the US this year, many of them at the partner level, like ex-JPMorgan deal wizard Kurt Simon, who joined Goldman in August.
This intense level of activity makes sense, considering the record level of dealmaking we've seen in 2018.
"You want to make hay while the sun shines," Albert Laverge, head of the corporate and investment banking practice for Egon Zehnder, told Business Insider. "People don't want to wait till Q2 to have somebody in place. Considering how much activity there is, waiting till June 1? It's just too long. Banks are taking a longer view, hiring now."
Hiring volume has largely tracked with the hottest sectors in investment banking - technology, media, and telecom has been the most active for MD-level hires, followed by healthcare, according to Laverge.
Like Choi, Laverge noted that it was the most active year in hiring he's seen since before the financial crisis.
"What I do find notable is how active the landscape is. It's November and announcements are still coming," Laverge said.
We're hearing that banks are still actively searching and looking to hire, so there could still be some shoes yet to drop in 2018. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which has had a dismal year in dealmaking, is reportedly looking to hire 50 senior dealmakers to boost its banking business.
Given the inordinate amount churn this year, Business Insider put together a list of the most notable moves of 2018. We worked with a handful of senior headhunters who live and breath this industry to winnow that list of nearly 300 moves down to the 40 biggest of 2018.
You can check out that list here.