David Miller - ex CS Head of IB joins Santander
Probably one of the biggest CS names out there. To what extent do you think deals may follow him? Not quite sure how Santander are being able to afford these hires
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Bump
I think these ex CS folks finessed Santander.
Very interesting experiment that could be successful
It’s cheaper than you’d expect, it’s a guarantee for a few years for MDs, for laid off directors and below it’s just a job offer. Think about their negotiating leverage especially if someone isn’t an ex-group head or big name.
Yeah for lower guys laid off sure - but so many group heads - even the IB, M&A, LevFin heads and entire teams being airlifted
Again they’ll generate revenue so ponying up for a couple year guarantee at $1-3mm/MD isn’t prohibitively expensive for a middle market bank. Also the negotiating power is with the bank. You can’t do lev fin without a balance sheet.
You have to also understand that everyone is a "head" of something... yes the group heads are the most prominent, but people will be the "head of sexual wellness" if that's where you can carve your niche.
Feel bad for him, he got backstabbed at CS.
How so? Why’d CS keep Michael Ebert and let David Miller go?
I think a lot of people are thinking about this the wrong way, these CS seniors are absolutely hosing Santander. There will be no real progress made with the bank and these guys are locking in 1-3 years of pay without any real expectation to drive significant revenue. The real bankers that were interested in continuing their careers immediately went to WF, DB, UBS, JPM, etc. These guys will just take their paychecks and chill, and then eventually jump to a real platform…
Not necessarily the worst strategy given M&A activity as of late
I personally completely disagree with the idea that David Miller - maybe one of the 20 largest names in US finance, the head of CS LevFin, Financial Sponsors etc. are not interested in progressing careers for some reason. Im still a sophomore applying around so may be completely wrong but I don’t understand why the strongest team heads of CS would suddenly lose interest in career progression?
They didn’t get poached by other firms for a reason.
Definitely a sophomore take. This guy isn’t “top 20 names in finance” he doesn’t even crack list of 100. He’s a co-head of a group at at an mid-tier investment bank lol.
Wasn’t Malcom Prince head of CS Sponsors?
All these cs guys absolutely taking advantage of Santander.
Much like Nomura after the GFC, 10 years from now Santander will still be largely irrelevant.
Do you remember how Barclays was doing before vs after the GFC?
Yeah, they sold iShares and bought Lehman. One is now a market-leading ETF business worth multiple billions, and the other is a middling bank that has lost most of its senior dealmakers. Imagine where Barclays’ share price would be today if they had done the opposite.
What was it like
Bump
Lol Reputation is everything in this industry. No one is joining Santander to cruise. Yes there will be a few who potentially do that but I wouldn't be surprised if Santander picks up steam over the next few years because of these hires. This industry is too competitive and if you're group head and looking to move into a new gig, your new gig will ask what have you done in your last role and why should we hire you. The new gig will likely be following the industry news and will know if you are dicking aroudn or not.
This is the 3rd time they have tried to go big on IB in recent history with similar method. The last two times didn’t work out. So frankly who knows
Sentence from random article on the analysts at santander:
Credit Suisse juniors brought on as part of the Spanish bank's US expansion are on combined salary and bonus packages around 30% higher than their own. While the ex-Credit Suisse investment banking analysts at Santander are thought to have received circa $150k+ in New York City, historic Santander juniors are on closer to $115k.
This is efinancial careers. Read a single article they have posted and you will know how blantantly unreliable everything they write is. This part of the article is based on a litquidity post for the record
its true tho that CS employees get higher pay
Lol rough
I could see 115k being normal for some analyst roles
I think they get paid more now
They only recent bumped salary
I'd say that most people are thinking of this the wrong way.
No big names in IB (David Miller, Tom Davidov, etc.) are joining a bank to mess around for a few years and derail their careers. So what's the play? I'd imagine the thinking is that if the Santander push to break into the big leagues pays off, they have secured high up positions early on, so that's a win. If it doesn't pay off, they've secured a (likely) very well compensated deal for a few years, so that's a win.
That doesn't mean they're 'playing Santander', nor that Santander have bagged a guaranteed way to the big leagues. They both need each other to make this pay off, and so it's in their best interests to make this arrangement work.
Very well said
David Wah to join PJT as partner now. Don’t get why UBS doesn’t make an effort to try to keep more of these rainmakers..
Cuz ubs fumbled the bag wit the merger in terms of retaining talent in ib
What does this mean for dealflow?
Probably more work for the santander team
Or the same work but more meaningful work?
Are people there actually that busy?
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