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We spoke to top Wall Street headhunters and reviewed nearly 300 senior investment banking hires and departures - here are the 40 biggest moves of 2018
We spoke to top Wall Street headhunters and reviewed nearly 300 senior investment banking hires and departures - here are the 40 biggest moves of 2018
Alex MorrellNov 8, 2018, 17:30 IST
Olivia Reaney/Business Insider
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It's been one of the most 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 spoke with top investment banking headhunters to determine the top 40 moves of the year.
According to top Wall Street headhunters, 2018 has been the most active year of hires and departures by senior investment bankers in recent memory.
We reviewed reports and spoke with executives at several premier investment-banking search firms and found nearly 300 moves 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 has been 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.
Albert Laverge, head of the corporate and investment banking practice for Egon Zehnder, told Business Insider the same.
An unprecedented amount of shakeups at the highest ranks of bulge-bracket investment banks - Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and UBS have all seen their power structures revamped.
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."
The record level of dealmaking we've seen in 2018 is likely spurring moves as well - the hottest sectors for deals mirror the hottest sectors for investment banker moves (TMT and healthcare). Firms may not feel they can wait to hire when the market is as hot as it is.
"What I do find notable is how active the landscape is. It's November and announcements are still coming," Laverge said.
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.
Some caveats: While seniority and title matter, it's not the only thing that matters. Well respected dealmakers at an MD level may earn a spot ahead of a group head that's past their prime. Also, this is a US focused list, so no European- or Asia-based bankers. Lastly, we only included people who oversee or work directly in investment banking.
Read on for Business Insider's list of the 40 most significant and noteworthy hires and departures in investment banking in 2018.
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Have thoughts? Think we missed somebody obvious or important? Shoot us a message at amorrell@businessinsider.com. We'll revisit our ranking at year's end and expand it if necessary.
New role: Partner in industrials, focused on automotive
Month: July
Automotive specialist Blake decamps from Citigroup after 19 years, joining fellow top-40 mover Brennan Smith in the firm's burgeoning Chicago bureau, which it opened up earlier this year.
Wilco Faessen: Barclays to Evercore
Old role: Managing director, global consumer retail
New role: Senior managing director & co-head global consumer and retail advisory
The Dutch banker, who has more than two decades under his belt, has advised companies like beer giant Anheuser Busch Inbev and Heinz.
Blair Fleming: Out at RBC Capital Markets
Old role: Head of US investment banking
New role: Unclear
Month: June
Fleming exited RBC in June after failing to disclose an affair with a staffer. He'd been with the firm for 30 years and took on the top role in Canadian firm's US investment bank in 2010.
Ben Frost: Morgan Stanley to Goldman Sachs
Old role: Global co-head of consumer retail investment banking
New role: Partner in investment banking
Month: April
Frost, one of the most talented and coveted bankers in the consumer retail game of musical chairs this past year, spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley before departing to become a partner at Goldman Sachs. He was in talks to join Evercore until Goldman swooped in to hire him, according to people familiar with the hiring.
The move is notable not just because Frost advised corporate giants like Unilever and Mars on megadeals. It's also part of the 2018 trend of Goldman making senior lateral hires — something done sparingly in the past.
Chris Gallea: JPMorgan to Goldman Sachs
Old role: Vice chairman of investment banking
New role: Partner and vice chairman of investment banking
Tammy Kiely: Goldman Sachs to Morgan Stanley to Goldman Sachs
Old role: Partner and head of global semiconductor, electronics, and autotech banking
New role: Partner and co-head of global TMT
Month: May
Kiely, a top semiconductors investment banker and one of the most senior female partners at Goldman Sachs, had agreed in spring to depart for Morgan Stanley to run their global semiconductors and autotech business.
But Kiely changed her mind and opted to stay put at Goldman, where she'd been since 1999, according to people familiar with the matter. She was then promoted to run all of TMT banking, one of Goldman's most high-profile and competitive businesses, alongside star Internet banker Kim Posnett.
Haidee Lee: Credit Suisse to Goldman Sachs
Old role: Head of US sell-side M&A
New role: Managing director in financial sponsors M&A
Month: June
After a successful stint running sell-side M&A at Credit Suisse, Lee, who has nearly two decades of experience under her belt, is headed to Goldman to focus on orchestrating deals for private-equity firms and other strategic investors across sectors.
She'll work with David Kamo, who also left Credit Suisse's sell-side team, back in 2016, to head up financial sponsors M&A at Goldman.
Jim Millstein: Acquired by Guggenheim Securities
Old role: Founder and CEO
New role: Co-chairman
Month: July
Technically speaking, Guggenheim acquired restructuring firm Millstein & Co., a 30-person advisory shop that since its founding in 2011 has handled clients like Caesar's Entertainment, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and US Airways', in its bid for American Airlines bankrupt parent company.
Practically speaking, they acquired Jim Millstein, the eponymous founder and legendary restructuring wizard, who will become co-chairman of Guggenheim Securities. Before founding his own shop, Millstein spearheaded the US government's financial-crisis investment in AIG as Chief Restructuring officer of the US Department of Treasury from 2009 to 20011. He co-headed Lazard's restructuring department for nearly a decade before that.
A.J. Murphy: Bank of America Merrill Lynch to Silver Lake
Old role: Head of Midwest TMT; global head of education services and technology
New role: Partner and managing director in TMT
Month: May
One of the slew of outside partner hires by Goldman in investment banking this year, Nordin joins with a specialty in education services and technology and has more than 200 transactions under his belt.
He set up his own shop, Helena Capital, this fall, according to his Linkedin Bio.
Kurt Simon: JPMorgan to Goldman Sachs
Old role: Global chairman of investment banking
New role: Partner and vice chairman of investment banking, co-chairman of TMT
Month: August
Of all the high-ranking dealmakers Goldman Sachs has poached from competitors this year, this one is the biggest. In Simon, Goldman gets one of rival JPMorgan's most senior and high-profile investment bankers.
Simon, who joined JPMorgan in 2002, has handled some of his firm's — and the industry's — largest mergers and acquisitions, including: SoftBank's $20 billion buyout of Sprint, Dell's $25 billion take private, and AT&T's $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner.
Brennan Smith: Citigroup to Perella Weinberg
Old role: Head of Midwest industrials and co-head of the Chicago office
New role: Partner and head of the Chicago office
Month: January
Industrials veteran Smith was a fixture at Citigroup, leaving after 22 years to open up Perella Weinberg's Chicago office – the firm's 11th location worldwide – and build out their coverage in the Midwest. He was joined in Chicago in July by Chris Blake, an automotive specialist and ex-Citigroup colleague.
Jeff Stute: JPMorgan to Perella Weinberg
Old role: Global head of healthcare investment banking
Mitchell Theiss: Bank of America Merrill Lynch to Rockefeller Capital Management
Old role: Chairman of global industrials
New role: Vice chairman of strategic advisory and a member of the operating committee
Month: October
After 30 years at two of the world's largest investment banks – a 19-year career at BAML, preceded by a 10-year run with Goldman Sachs — Theiss is headed to Rockefeller Capital Management, the new hybrid investment management and advisory firm run by former Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley exec Greg Fleming.
Theiss is the latest in a slew of senior hires Fleming has made this year.
Nicholas Tuosto: Bank of America Merrill Lynch to LionTree
Old role: Global co-head of internet and digital media
New role: Managing director
Month: September
Tuosto, a 36-year-old rising star at who spent his entire career in tech banking at BAML, teams up with rainmaker Aryeh Bourkoff at his TMT-focused boutique LionTree Advisors. A specialist in the video game industry, Tuosto advised Tencent on its $8.4 billion buyout of Finnish mobile-game maker Supercell.
Laurence Whittemore: JPMorgan to PJT
Old role: Head of oil and gas advisory in North America
New role: Partner
Month: Unclear
Whittemore is a big addition for Paul Taubman, the founding rainmaker behind boutique PJT Partners. Whittemore comes with 25 years of experience as an energy banker at JPMorgan, most recently leading oil and gas M&A in North America.
Andrew Woeber: Greenhill to Centerview
Old role: Partner and co-head of US M&A
New role: Partner
Month: April
After a decade at Greenhill — the last two years as M&A co-head — Woeber joins Centerview as an M&A specialist with experience handling high-profile clients like Berkshire Hathaway, Blackstone, Comcast, and TPG.
