Challenge

Senior management of this high-profile start-up, while highly accomplished in credit and rates, were relatively inexperienced at looking to currency as an asset class. They knew they wanted a top player to join the team, which was comprised of the cream of the crop from the parent organization’s proprietary trading desks (forex was one of the only markets in which the parent lacked a significant footprint in prop trading). But beyond a desire for excellence, they had few preconceptions about the investment style they sought—whether quantitative or fundamental, directional or market neutral—or the professional profile of their desired candidate.  
 

Sextant's Approach

Recognizing the need to cast a wide net, at least until the client’s requirements took on more definition, Sextant pulled together a search team that cut across several practices:

• Hedge Funds to source macro and quantitatively-oriented candidate
• Capital Markets, to source candidates from flow and prop trading desks
• Traditional Asset Management to source into the long-only space

Sextant’s Solution

By showing the client a variety of profiles from multiple disciplines early in the process, we were able to help senior management refine their thinking about this key strategy area and to realize that the optimal fit, in terms of culture and risk appetite, probably shared their prop trading background. As it turned out, the successful candidate (a diversity hire) joined from the prop desk of a rival bank, lured by the strategic nature of the role and the greater risk-taking environment of a stand-alone entity.

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Challenge

The client was a growing structured credit products business seeking access to the most sophisticated institutional investors. The challenges of the search included:

• Identifying the narrow pool of candidates with a unique blend of relationships with institutional investors, as well as experience marketing structured credit products, especially CDO equity.
• Attracting candidates to a second tier commercial bank that was just building out its structured products effort.

Sextant’s Approach

• Targeting select sell-side and buy-side structured credit marketers that had relationships with the target client segment of pension funds, endowments and other sophisticated institutions.
• Discreet sourcing into the pension and endowment communities with existing CDO investments and soliciting recommendations for the top sell-side structured credit marketers. 
• Adopting an out-of-the-box approach by looking at individuals outside of the sell-side at both traditional and alternative asset management firms who had the relevant institutional relationships but lacked the track record in selling structured credit products.  For example, we targeted institutional sales people at the traditional money managers, and marketers and fundraisers at hedge funds and private equity funds who could potentially transition and would consider moving from the buy side into a structured credit marketing role.

Sextant’s Solution

By leveraging Sextant’s multiple practice areas – Private Equity, Hedge Funds and Asset Management – creating a comprehensive, “converged” approach, we were able to quickly navigate candidates with great relationships who existed outside the sell-side and could sell structured credit products.  We also did extensive sourcing into the major plan sponsors who were early adopters of the CDO equity asset class.

We identified and helped our client hire two individuals – one located on the East Coast and one located on the West Coast – with unique experience selling CDOs, as well as a deep rolodex of institutional investors.

 

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Challenge:

• The prospect needed knowledge of commercial and investment banking as well as exposure to trading, if not direct front office experience.  In addition, a substantive comprehension of relevant bank regulations was required.  Locating an executive with a proven track record of influencing and collaborating within a complex organizational group via an internal control office was a significant challenge.
• The successful new hire needed a demonstrated track record in developing staff.   An ability to build trust throughout the firm was a key factor, as the group had not historically been exposed to much change within the management structure.

Sextant's Approach:

• Knowing that the successful candidate must be politically savvy and diplomatic, we opened up the search to a diverse range of candidates to find the right cultural match.  Prospects were screened from within commercial investment banks, rating agencies and regulatory institutions.  
• Fresh ideas were brought to the client sessions as we interviewed professionals with expertise from less obvious sources of talent who were worthy of evaluation.
• Sextant targeted candidates who exhibited proven track records in influencing senior leaders of complex businesses.

Sextant's Solution:

A global sector head for risk and control at a global commercial bank fit the client’s qualifications and an offer was extended.  Simultaneously, this candidate received an offer to become a chief operating officer from a former colleague at another global competitor.  This candidate then served as an ideal source, leading us to the final executive through a personal referral.  

A key point person on BASEL II, the MD we identified embodied the core competencies of compliance, risk management, policy development as well as counterparty and structured credit risk.  In addition, this professional had built a highly motivated team, and had previously served as the firm’s liaison for financial regulation to a newly formed global regulatory body.

Within the first month of the hire, Sextant received positive feedback on the successful candidate's performance and has continued to work closely with the new hire on operational issues within the Internal Control Office to cultivate higher performance paradigms.

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Challenge

• The client had several “false starts” in the US private banking business over the last several years.
• Foreign banks have a reputation for being difficult in terms of credit approval, a critical component of success for any lending business.
• The client had no substantial track record in handling complex credit transactions for its private banking clients.
• The timeframe was immediate.
• The pool of competitors doing the kind of business that the client was interested in was limited.
• The pool of candidates with appropriate leadership skills was small.

Sextant’s Approach

• Sextant immediately targeted two competitor institutions, identifying within the first few weeks a ‘point in time’ opportunity to hire people from one of the institutions.  
• Rather than focusing on the ‘head of’ role, Sextant recommended hiring a number of talented and experienced lenders who were susceptible to alternatives because of specific decisions that had been made at their existing employers.  This required Sextant to sell the opportunity to potential candidates without revealing that their immediate manager would also be joining the team.
• Sextant reached out beyond the world of private banking to identify candidates who might be able to transfer skills to this activity.

Sextant’s Solution

Sextant successfully hired seven people from four institutions, including two roles outside our initial mandate, within three months. An additional four lending professionals were placed by Sextant in the following months.

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Challenge

• The definition of mid cap was not consistent across all banks.
• Another division of the client had been working on a new relationship management business covering the middle market sector – a slightly smaller cap segment of Corporate America – but with some overlap.
• The client had exited this sector several years before the search and faced substantial skepticism in the market about their commitment.
• A key component of success would be the candidate’s ability to navigate a complex organization of multiple product areas as well as investment banking coverage.  In addition, the candidate would have to be credible across the most complete product range possible within one of the most sophisticated platforms in the market.
• The client sought a candidate with significant management experience who still maintained direct client coverage responsibilities – a difficult balance to find at this level of seniority.

Sextant’s Approach

Sextant developed a selling proposition that directly addressed market perceptions about the client’s commitment as it re-entered this business sector.  In addition, the search team fully investigated specific business models at key target companies to facilitate identification of candidates with appropriate client relationships and experience and to enable the team to sell the opportunity effectively against competitors in the market.

The strategy was twofold:

• Talk to bankers, product specialists and others at target banks.
• Talk to the target clients about the bankers who covered them.

Sextant’s Solution

Sextant identified a successful candidate whose prior experience had been with one organization.  That the candidate had experienced several mergers and had adapted well to each by successfully increasing his responsibilities, was a strong indication that he would thrive in a complex organization that was new to him.  The chance to build a business literally from nothing in a highly sophisticated platform was an unusual opportunity that the candidate could not replicate anywhere else.  Sextant also arranged a series of meetings with ‘friends’ in the client organization, building an internal support network to speed the candidate’s acclimatization and integration into the new role.

In each of the last three hiring seasons, Sextant has continued to work in partnership with the successful candidate in building his team in a considered, rational manner.

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Challenge

• The role required an understanding of debt, equity, structured finance and hedging products in an overall optimal capital structure context – an unusual combination on Wall Street at the time.
• The candidate would have to work effectively in partnership with investment banking coverage professionals as well as product specialists who might be threatened by the role.
• The high degree of integration and team work required for success in this role was at odds with the client’s reputation for having an uncoordinated work environment.
• There were six managers who had a ‘vote’ on the hire since the business was managed by co-heads and was a joint venture between two major divisions, each of which had co-heads.

Sextant’s Approach

The strategy for identification involved:

• Sourcing multiple products areas such as debt capital markets, equity capital markets, as well as debt and equity derivatives teams at top tier competitor banks.
• Sourcing investment banking teams at financial institutions.

Sextant’s Solution

The field of candidates acceptable to the multiple constituents involved was limited.  Sextant identified the successful candidate early in the process, but worked for several months to convince him to meet the client.  Sextant stayed abreast of changes at the candidate’s existing employer, maintaining a presence when the candidate became disenchanted with his current situation.  

The key to success was to capitalize on the dual nature of the role by identifying a candidate who was eager to leverage his management skills and product knowledge.  

Sextant assisted the candidate in recruiting three additional people for his team.

 

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Challenge

• The client was open-minded about the nature of the businesses in which they would be willing to invest, as long as certain parameters including capital, risk limits, etc. were met.
• The client met the usual reluctance among candidates concerning foreign banks and their commitment to the U.S. and credit cultures.
• The client had little-to-no name recognition in the U.S.
• To achieve the necessary organizational impact, the client needed to act with some scale - single hires would not achieve this goal.

Sextant’s Approach

• Sextant narrowed the range of potential targets based on conversations with the client.
• The team then developed the market sourcing necessary to determine an appropriate fit for the client.
• Sextant worked with potential candidates who could lead teams on developing business plans.

Sextant’s Solution

Sextant collaborated with the client in launching three separate business activities:

• The CDO business with a team hire of 22 people
• The correlation trading business
• The leveraged finance business

Sextant’s search team continues a fruitful collaboration with the client to expand its CDO business.

 

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