Deutsche bank to hire Boyle to lead equity derivatives

Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank AG, Europe’s biggest investment bank, hired James Boyle from Citigroup Inc. as global co-head of its equity-derivatives business following a slump in the unit’s sales, according to two people familiar with the decision.
Boyle, who is based in Hong Kong, will also be head of equities for the Asia Pacific region, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel.
Boyle resigned as Citigroup’s global head of equity derivatives after four years at the lender, people familiar with the matter said
Tuesday.
Deutsche Bank Co-Chief Executive Officer John Cryan is seeking to boost stock-trading operations under a restructuring plan to reduce the Frankfurt-based lender’s reliance on trading debt. The strategy has been challenged by losses and risk-management issues at the equity-derivatives unit that caused sales to slump in the second half of last year.
“The move should be a very positive one for Deutsche Bank,” said Oliver Rolfe, managing director at Spartan Partnership Equities Ltd., a London-based recruitment firm that focuses on the stock-trading business. “It’s the experience that Boyle has got. He’s been through difficult times previously.”
Amanda Williams, a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank in New York, declined to comment. Boyle couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Boyle joined Citigroup in 2012 after roles at Citadel LLC and Merrill Lynch & Co. and became global head of equity derivatives two years later. Equity derivatives are financial instruments whose values are based on underlying securities such as common stock.

Sales Tumble
In November, Deutsche Bank named Brad Kurtzman as global head of the business. Rob Ebert was head of equities for Asia Pacific, the lender said at the same time.
Total equities sales at Deutsche Bank tumbled 24 percent to 1.1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) in the second half of 2015 from a year earlier, according to a March 11 presentation. Revenue from equity derivatives was “significantly lower” because of losses from securities that the bank held on its own balance sheet and “challenging risk management,” the presentation shows.
“It has been a disappointment,” Chief Financial Officer Marcus Schenck told analysts on a Jan. 28 call. “It’s not a situation that we find acceptable.”
The world’s biggest banks generated $16.3 billion in revenue from equity derivatives in 2015, a 14 percent jump on the previous year as sales to Asian clients increased in the first half, according to Coalition Development Ltd. Societe Generale SA is the top performer in the industry by revenue, followed by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG, while Deutsche Bank ranked between 10th and 12th, according to the research firm.
Boyle joined Citigroup four years ago when the New York-based bank was going through similar tumult. Then, poor performance at the equity-derivatives unit had helped stock-trading revenue to tumble in 2011, prompting the bank’s equities chief Derek Bandeen to overhaul management at the division.