Despite the impact of MiFID II, global investment bank Credit Suisse, recently recruited two senior equity research analysts to join its London-based European equity research team.
Credit Suisse’s New Research Hires
According to eFinancialCareers, Credit Suisse recently hired two experienced equity research analysts — Carsten Riek as co-head of steel and mining research and Haley Tam as a managing director in diversified financials research.
Carsten Riek joins Credit Suisse following more than 20 years of industry and sell-side equity research experience. Most recently Riek spent almost 8 years at UBS as Executive Director, Steel Sector Research. Previously, Mr. Riek worked for more than 4 years at Morgan Stanley as an analyst covering EU and Russia/CIS Steel and Stainless Steel. Earlier in his career Carsten spent more than 7 years at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe in strategy and investor relations roles.
Haley Tam joins Credit Suisse following more than 23 years of sell-side research and auditing experience, including more than 11 years as Managing Director, European Diversified Financials Equity Research at Citi. Prior to her stint at Citi, Ms. Tam worked as an equity research analyst at ABN AMRO for more than 1 year and for more than 5 years at Bear Stearns & Co. Previously, Ms. Tam spent more than 4 years as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche. Most recently, Ms. Tam ranked second in Institutional Investor’s 2019 All-Europe Survey.
Both Carsten Riek and Haley Tam will join Credit Suisse’s European equity research team headquartered in London.
Our Take
In the past few years, Credit Suisse has experienced serious transition in its equity research business. Credit Suisse’s equities business plunged from the fourth largest in 2015 to eighth in the 1st Qtr of 2017 while its Extel research ranking dropped from 7th in 2015 to 13th in 2017 as the firm suffered from extensive reorganizations. However, in the 4th quarter 2017, the firm started to turn around its equities research franchise by adding more than 10 equity research analysts (many of them senior) to beef up its business in months leading up to the implementation of MiFID II.
The addition of experienced analysts like Riek and Tam makes sense as it continues to try and rebuild its research franchise. Carsten Riek could clearly be seen as a key analyst replacement since Credit Suisse lost its head of steel and mining research Michael Shillaker in January. In fact, a few recruiters suggest that Credit Suisse is currently the most active bank in recruiting for its research team.
The addition of these senior analysts could also be attributed to the firm’s recent bullish financial performance. Credit Suisse outperformed most of its peers during the 1st Qtr 2019 as the bank’s equity revenues increased modestly on a year over year basis and surged nearly 40% over the previous quarter, while most other investment banks stumbled badly. Credit Suisse management suggested that its equity research business also performed well during the 1st Qtr.
The real question is whether the rebuilding of Credit Suisse’s equity research franchise will be a sustained effort, and will it have a meaningful impact on the bank’s equities and investment banking performance? Only time will tell.