Credit Suisse equities trading head aims high
ZURICH: While wealth management may be the business Credit Suisse Group AG favours growing these days, the Wall Street veteran who took over the bank’s equity trading unit has no intention of taking a back seat.
“We have more than sufficient resources to be a top-five equities player,” equities chief Mike Stewart said in his first interview since taking the job in June.
“Right now, the business really is in execution mode. I’ve got my key people in every seat.”
Credit Suisse was the seventh-biggest equity trading house by revenue last year, and a jump into the top five would require it to boost its business by one third. Stewart didn’t give a timeframe for his ambition.
Stewart took up his job in the midst of some rocky years for the trading business. Credit Suisse lost almost a third of its trading market share from 2015 to 2017 after a push into Asia backfired, a team wagering on algorithms caused revenue to plunge and historically low volatility took a toll on earnings.
Since joining from cross-town rival UBS Group AG, Stewart has hired at least 18 senior investment bankers at the unit, which caters to institutional investors, hedge funds and insurance companies. Key hires include Mike Di Iorio, Roger Anerella, David Bleustein, Stuart McGuire, Michael Ebert, Gerry Milligan, Anthony Abenante and Scott Miller.
Stewart, who oversees the global stock-trading business outside of Asia, said he wanted to reboot the bank’s business with hedge funds as he improved electronic trading systems and strengthened flows into Credit Suisse’s private-banking empire.
Credit Suisse took just over 7% of global equity trading revenues in 2017, while the fifth-biggest player, UBS, had 9.5%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that rank firms within their peer group.
Morgan Stanley placed first and had 21% of the business. Credit Suisse held the No. 3 spot in 2011.
Credit Suisse was down 1.1% in Zurich trading as of 9:53am yesterday. The stock is up 11% in the last 12 months, giving the company a market value of about 40 billion francs (US$42bil). — Bloomberg