When Euromoney met Duncan Sankey for coffee in London's Piccadilly, close by his office at Cheyne Capital, he seemed pretty relaxed about his new job. That's one of the main reasons that he took it. The former head of credit research at Nomura in London is the latest in a stream of senior analysts to migrate from sell side to buy side. As for others before him, one of the attractions was a better quality of life.
"I still work hard but there's greater flexibility in terms of hours. I'm also travelling a lot less," he says. "I used to be gone about once a fortnight plus lots of interrupted weekends. I've got a 14-year-old daughter so I wanted to spend more time with my family."
Escape from bureaucracy Sankey started at Cheyne as senior credit analyst in September. The firm is a hedge fund specializing in convertibles, equities and investment-grade credit default swaps, as well as research and portfolio management. Sankey is working alongside the CDO structuring team. "It's a very professional but relaxed environment," he says. "I'm basically going back to my roots, researching credit and picking out relative value plays."