Pedro Solbes, Commissioner for monetary and economic affairs, European Union
Salomon Smith Barney's new recruit, Jürgen Karcher, is an esteemed fixed-income trader with an impressive track record, notably in the Pfandbrief market - for the past year he has been directing strategic planning at Germany's largest mortgage bank, DePfa.
Former colleagues seem to have nothing but compliments for the well-mannered and always impeccably dressed native of Mannheim. "He's extremely good at what he does," says one who worked with him at Commerzbank. "He understands what value-at-risk is all about, which as a trader makes him very easy to work with." Another adds: "He's not just someone who can keep smiling while he shakes hands with clients. He truly understands the market."
For all this, Karcher's career has not been plain sailing. The most obvious upset was when he was forced out of his job as global head of fixed income at Commerzbank in 1997, after the bank's derivatives boutique, Commerzbank Financial Products (CFP), was somewhat traumatically incorporated into the parent institution.
Up to that point, under the guidance of Karcher - who eventually became Commerzbank's global head of fixed income - Commerzbank had been one of the front runners in the development of the jumbo Pfandbrief market, a market everyone now seems anxious to enter.