If you keep an eye on LinkedIn these days, you might see the eruption of a new phenomenon: just as tariffs upturn the post World War II financial order, HSBC’s managing directors are announcing their availability for work.
The departure messages follow similar formats. HSBC and HSBC colleagues are thanked for their long support as the individuals concerned announce that they’re embarking on a “exciting journey” to find something new.
It’s an unfortunate case of poor timing, all the more so because some of the HSBC bankers on the journey are leaving the consumer and retail sector team, just as non-food consumer and retail firms are afflicted by particular uncertainty. If anyone is hired this year, it might be technology, media and telecoms bankers, whose fee revenues rose around 20% in the first quarter according to Dealogic.
Are there jobs out there now for M&A bankers who’ve spent a decade at HSBC? Maybe. Headhunters say they still have mandates to fill, but that they were mostly handed out at the end of last year. They typically involve key strategic positions. “I can’t see any volume hiring happening now in M&A during 2025,” says one.
If they want their journey to end at a new destination, HSBC’s unwanted banking MDs will therefore need to prove that they’re the sorts of rainmakers who can make things happen in a difficult market. This might be easier said than done – in the first quarter of 2025, Dealogic says HSBC ranked outside the top 10 for M&A in every single market except for Southeast Asia, where its bankers aren’t being cut wholesale.
There are complaints, too, that HSBC’s M&A bankers are plodding “buffalo” who specialised in executing rather than originating deals.
For the moment, headhunters say HSBC people are being interviewed rather than hired. Almost everyone there is open to something to new, even if they’re being retained on short term contracts. That’s a lot of people looking for work, just as the M&A market closes for what may be a very long time.
Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash
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