It started with Hope – or rather, lack of Hope. Last month Deutsche Bank announced that Hope Pascucci, co-head of global capital markets, was to relinquish her management responsibilities to spend more time with her two children. Hope will move to Boston but will continue as a member of Deutsche’s global banking and global markets executive committees.
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| Hope Pascucci’s decision to leave Deutsche Bank to spend more time with her two children is courageous. And it prompted me to ponder: “Why do we work?” |
Investment banking is exciting, addictive and financially rewarding. Few have the strength of character to step off the treadmill. One senior banker commented: “It’s the A-players who leave. They know they can succeed in another field.” Pascucci’s decision is courageous. And it prompted me to ponder: “Why do we work?” For financiers, money is only part of the answer. Anyone who’s been in the industry longer than 15 years and still works for the money is a failure.
However, self-image is often defined by work. “I am a managing director on Wall Street. Therefore I am.” And the money is a way of keeping score. A friend who is worth $250 million moans that he is not a billionaire. This is ridiculous. After a certain point, what does the extra wealth bring you? You end up worrying how to give it away most effectively.
In early September, Stanley Fink, chief executive of hedge fund group Man announced that he would become non-executive deputy chairman. He wants to commit more time to personal interests, in particular his philanthropic activities. I admire Fink. Several years ago he was diagnosed with a brain tumour (from which he has made a full recovery). Did this reminder of mortality influence his view that we should work to live not live to work?
I might be seeing shadows where none exist but it seems to me that there is a change of sentiment among middle-aged financiers. A friend ruminated recently: “Abigail, which of our contemporaries works in a 9 to 5 City job any more? And more important, who would still want to do that?” Well, in addition to Hope, three well-known capital markets professionals have decided to press the pause button.
Chris Coles, previously head of Barclays Capital’s leveraged finance business, is taking a sabbatical from the bank commencing this week. Coles is viewed as an outstanding professional. Barclays was ranked second (by Dealogic) as lead arranger of European leveraged loans for 2005. Chris is a rare animal who takes the business rather than himself seriously. A colleague adds: “Coles is a top performer. Totally unpolitical, he just gets on with it.”
So what next for capable Chris? He will be studying international development at the University of Bath. “I wanted a change,” he emailed. “I realized that I had not had a break since I left Oxford University in the early 1980s. Grant Kvalheim and Bob Diamond have been very good about my decision. All the best for now – off to my first lecture in 24 years.’
I applaud Grant and Bob’s approach. As far as I’m concerned a key issue for the industry is how to retain top talent once the buzz of the big bonus fades. It could be argued that Dresdner Bank is faltering in this regard. Since Stefan Jentzsch took over from Andrew Pisker last November, many mutter about a revolving door. A senior German source opined: “Jentzsch is not making many friends at Dresdner. There is a clear distinction between him, Jens-Peter Neumann and the guys they are hiring versus everybody who was there before.”
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| Sean Park used to be a world-class skier. And for the next six months he will be skiing in France with his wife and children |
In a way it’s not surprising. Any new overlord will want his own people around him, and that’s a consistent theme in banking. Neumann joined Dresdner Bank from HypoVereinsbank in April 2006 as head of capital markets. But some say that to lose individuals of the calibre of Joe Dryer (most recently co-head of advisory) and Sean Park (former head of digital markets) is bad business.
Sean talks of taking a break from the rat race. At 38, he has spent nearly two decades in the industry. His career has so far spanned the trading, syndicate and e-commerce functions. “A big restructuring at Dresdner Kleinwort was a natural opportunity to reassess and catch my breath,” he told me.
Park used to be a world-class skier. And for the next six months, he will be skiing in France with his wife and children. Park – dubbed “a charming workaholic” by one competitor – even talks about trying to qualify for the Winter Olympics – “perhaps for something like the Sri Lankan team” he jokes. In 2007, Park will decide whether “to go entrepreneurial or surrender to the allure of a big bank and a steady income”.
Joe Dryer is also leaving Dresdner. He joined six years ago as co-head of global debt origination. And one year off his 50th birthday, he has resigned to consider other opportunities: “I felt I had reached a crossroads. It was time to pass the baton,” he said. “I want to take six months off, pry open my head and let the wind rush through.”
Maybe Dryer is suffering from reorganization fatigue? And who can blame him? Dresdner has been through several major structural changes, including the acquisition of Wasserstein Perella in early 2001 and the formation of a new corporate and investment banking division in late 2005.
