Morale in the equity division won't have been high at JPMorgan's London offices following the news of Geoffrey Boisi's departure. Its recovery won't have been helped by the departure in quick succession of three of the bank's top-ranked research analysts.
Banks analyst Stuart Graham is joining Merrill Lynch, Huw van Steenis in speciality finance is going to Morgan Stanley and telecoms head Ian Johnston had already left the firm to pursue other interests.
"When three of your best-ranked analysts have gone in such a short time, that looks careless," says a JPMorgan source.
Van Steenis confirmed his departure from JPMorgan in an email, saying he had decided to leave "following a number of highly stimulating years".
A JPMorgan spokesman tried to put a positive spin on events: "In the past six months we have hired analysts from other banks. I know we have attracted Morgan Stanley's number-one ranked tobacco team, as well as HSBC's metals and mining team," she said, although she conceded the defections have left a hole. "We do expect to announce replacements shortly." But there's no doubt Graham and Van Steenis will be missed.