If you want a high touch sales job now, we hear that Citadel Securities is hiring, but Ken Griffin’s market making firm is not the only non-bank game in town. Marex, the brokerage firm come clearing house, come “institutional liquidity provider” is also rolling its dice. Senior salespeople are paying attention.
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In the past six months, Marex has made big hires in London and beyond. Aaron Fernandes, the former co-head of European and Asian emerging markets at Jefferies, joined in late October to build an emerging markets credit desk. Chris Stone, Citi’s former head of EMEA high and low touch futures execution, joined in late July along with two members of his team. Patterson McDonald joined in New York from Jefferies to expand the prime broking team.
They follow the arrival Amedeo Ferri-Ricchi, the former head of FX at Deutsche Bank – plus his team – in 2024. In the words one of the big name recruits, speaking off the record, Marex has become a “magnet for experienced alpha generators.” – “It’s listed, publicly rated, and offers a broader product range than most banks,” he adds. “We’re talking about tier one dimensions but with advantages that banks can’t match any more – fast decision-making, flexibility and a low cost base.”
Marex is nothing new. It began life as a brokerage firm in 2005, focused on commodities and FX. It’s since diversified to cover broader financial markets, partly through organic growth and partly through acquisition. Last July, Marex acquired UK equity market maker Winterflood Securities and FX brokerage firm Hamilton Court Group. In late 2023, it acquired TD Cowen’s prime broking and outsourced trading business.
Headcount in Marex’s capital markets business has expanded rapidly in the process. The capital markets team now employs 600 ‘front office execution professionals,’ up from 450 last year. Globally, Marex employs 2,500 people in total, split between the front and back office. 130 are in Dubai and Abu Dhabi; nearly 100 are in Dubai alone, up from 55 last year.
Greg Tsimbler is deputy CEO of Marex’s capital markets business, based in London. “We aim to become the largest full service execution provider to our clients,” Tsimbler declares. “We’re already the largest non-bank clearing house in the world. We have capabilities of a broker, an investment bank and an exchange.”
Marex’s clients are both institutional investors and corporates. The firm mostly operates an agency trading model and doesn’t take usually take risk on its own balance sheet, although this doesn’t apply to all teams. “We aggregate prices from across the Street,” explains Tsimbler. “- Prices from banks and other liquidity providers to give clients access to the full market. This is why we’ve been successful in hiring some big names.”
It’s fair to say that senior salespeople seem to really want to work for Marex. This is because unlike other electronic trading firms, Tsimbler says Marex isn’t primarily focused on algorithmic execution. “The bulk of our execution comes via high touch,” he says. “We can execute trades electronically or by voice, but we focus on offering a white glove service. We understand how to execute trades and what the problems can be.”
This means Marex is popular with people who want to talk to clients about trades, and who’ve been squeezed out of banks by automated platforms. “It’s a breath of fresh air,” says one senior salesperson there, speaking to us off the record. “It’s a flat structure filled with smart, ambitious people who genuinely want to succeed while protecting the right culture. Very entrepreneurial.”
Like Barclays in the distant past, insiders say Marex operates a “no-jerk rule.” Politics are minimal as a result. “Everyone here is aligned around one goal. No one is worried about self-preservation for the wrong reasons…,” says one insider.
The only thing Marex doesn’t do is to offer formulaic bonuses that are a percentage of individual revenues generated. The salespeople we spoke to didn’t seem to mind this, though. “Bonuses are discretionary, but key people have precise expectations,” explains one.
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