Every time a JPMorgan banker is off the desk, the suspicion is they've joined Citi
It's summer holiday season, and this means that people who might usually be at work in the office are on the beach instead. At JPMorgan in London, various people are currently sunning themselves. In the febrile atmosphere of Citi's hiring spree, however, these absences are fuelling speculation that senior figures have left to join Vis Raghavan instead.
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Amanda Sharman, JPMorgan's EMEA head of equity capital markets execution, is among those rumoured to be running to Raghavan. So too is Ashish Jhajharia, JPMorgan's head of EMEA equity capital markets syndicate. Both remain firmly employed by JPMorgan. Any absences are apparently temporary and not to be misconstrued.
Raghavan's interest in his former JPMorgan colleagues has been established by an array of hires that include Achintya Mangla, Sid Punshi, Drago Rajkovic, Alok Gupte, Alex Watkins, Bernal Vargas and Pankaj Goel. Gupte, in particular, was rumoured to be leaving JPMorgan for months before he officially made the move. Raghavan is now running the investment bank at Citi after nearly 25 years at JPMorgan and is thought to have escaped his non-solicitation agreement with his former employer in June, leaving him free to poach whomever he likes.
While Raghavan is hiring from JPMorgan, existing Citi people are leaving. Philip Drury, Citi's San Francisco-based global head of TMT, announced this week that he's leaving to become chief investment officer at fintech firm Poolside, a presumable client. Citi insiders said Drury was close to Tyler Dickson, Citi's former head of investment banking, who left last year.
Citi veterans are complaining that Raghavan has been hiring his former colleagues and adding co-heads even though the bank simplified its management structure two years ago. There are suggestions Citi will make a round of senior redundancies in August to help pay for his new hires.
Jhajharia is thought to be close to Mangla, who is now running Citi's capital markets business. Citi isn't only hiring from JPMorgan, though: Financial News reported today that it's also hired Arnaud Fremy, from UBS as head of EMEA transportation banking.
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