The Telegraph reported veteran dealmaker Ken Moelis is opening a London office for the firm he founded in July 2007 to compete with firms such as Greenhill & Co., Rothschild, Gleacher Shacklock LLP and Evercore Partners Inc. -- who, ahem, may also be looking for top talent. So far, Moelis hired former Deutsche Bank AG banker Kristian Bagger to lead the effort. Bagger retired from Deutsche in June, where he covered Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The Deal reported earlier in August that Moelis has been on a hiring spree as Greg Share grabbed a PE gig in New York, and just a few days ago, consumer products expert Andrew Shore took an MD job in the same office.
The Telegraph article notes that from a standing start, Moelis now employs nearly 150 people and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Chicago, and has won big advisory roles such as with InBev SA's $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Hilton Hotels on its $20 billion acquisition by Blackstone Group LP.
eFinancialCareers said Moelis isn't the only boutique advisory firm sniffing around for staff -- headhunters say Fenchurch is also hiring "aggressively," and is particularly interested in hearing from FIG bankers. And they note an article in the Financial Times a few months ago showed healthy hiring at Greenhill, Hawkpoint, Evercore and Blackstone Group. Told ya so. The eFinancialCareers report also quoted Jim Nairn at recruitment firm Cornell Partnership as saying quite a few advisory boutiques are upgrading and adding to headcount: "Unlike investment banks, they're not taking the hits to other parts of their business."
But as you well know, the competition is tougher than usual, as we can see with the Bear Stearns Cos. exodus. - Baz Hiralal
See Dealscape: Moelis, on a hiring spree, opens London office
See eFinancialCareers: Boutiques are looking for i-bankers
Comments
For unemployed bankers -- or soon to be unemployed as is the case at Lehman Brothers Inc. -- good news, Moelis & Co. and other boutiques are reportedly hiring. 
Independent executive search consultant hiring M&A Advisory all sectors.