The Deutsche dozen

Many unemployed or disillusioned senior investment bankers might be turning to boutiques in search of a fresh career amid the downturn, but at least one big bank is offering an alternative. Deutsche Bank AG has been able to attract a number of well-known corporate finance advisory bankers for its European division since September and is growing in confidence as it wins some big mandates. David Fass, head of global banking Europe, hints at more hires to come: "Our global platform is attractive to top bankers in the market, which allowed us to largely meet our 2009 objectives with a series of strong hires in areas where we see continued activity."

The bank has brought in 12 managing directors since September, half of them since March. In the present climate, this almost counts as a hiring spree. The latest is Basil Geoghegan, whose move from Goldman, Sachs & Co. in April came as a surprise.

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A busy financial institutions banker at Goldman in London, he has won some prestigious mandates from the U.K. Treasury, something that will stand him in good stead at Deutsche which says it is advising the Treasury on a variety of matters now. He will join Deutsche in July as a managing director in European corporate coverage.

FIG experience is indeed highly prized at Deutsche, which hired about 12 ex-Merrill Lynch financial institutions bankers from around the world in one fell swoop in January, including Richard Slimmon, who joins as a managing director in London. Michael Cohrs, head of global banking at Deutsche, said at the time that he believed the sector was "certain to see continued growth in coming years." The hires followed the recruitment in November of Leopoldo Attolico, a former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. banker, as co-head of global banking for Italy.

Many of the new recruits have come from failed or merged banks. Asked if opportunism at a time of lower compensation expectations drove the hiring, Fass says, "We regularly assess opportunities to add talent that will enhance our market position. Last year, we reviewed our corporate finance hiring strategy in Europe against the market opportunities available in these challenging markets. We focused our attention on securing top bankers in core business areas across Europe, such as financial institutions, natural resources, and key Continental European markets."

Deutsche is also hiring to boost its M&A franchise, which has not always been the strongest part of the business. Tom Cooper, a former head of European M&A at UBS, is moving to Deutsche as co-chairman of global M&A. And Marc Pandraud, a highly regarded Paris banker at Merrill, is joining as chief country officer for France, along with three Merrill colleagues, including Emmanuel Hasbanian, who becomes head of M&A in France. Deutsche also brought on Lehman MDs to cover Benelux and the
Nordic countries.

Deutsche won't comment directly on the number of job cuts it has made among its advisory ranks, although its results have revealed that the corporate banking and securities department as a whole has reduced its headcount by nearly 1,500 in the past 12 months to around 10,000 at the end of March 2009. But the emphasis on hiring influential business winners, and its strong performance in the first quarter M&A league tables, in which it ranked second based on announced deals in Europe according to Thomson Reuters, shows it is serious about growth.

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