The reverse flow of talent in India from Wall Street brokerages to local broking firms continues to gather pace. While the latest catch is Ratnesh Kumar, the head of research of Citigroup, moving to local brokerage Anand Rathi, sources said Indiabulls, which is building its own institutional wing, is luring analysts from Citigroup and DSP Merrill Lynch.
Experts say this reverse flow of talent has been mainly driven by the lure of equity stakes.
Ratnesh Kumar was instrumental in setting up Citigroup India's research team for eight years. He joined Anand Rathi Securities as the CEO of its institutional equities business. Interestingly, Citigroup Venture Capital, the private equity arm of Citigroup, holds 19.9 per cent stake in Anand Rathi Securities.
Kumar is not the only one to leave the secure confines of Wall Street firms in favour of handsome stock options from local brokerages. There have been a clutch of others who have already moved in or are planning to move.
Recently, Motilal Oswal appointed Vetri Subramaniam from Boyer Allan Investment Management of the UK as CIO of its portfolio management services.
If sources are to be believed, a domestic financial services company is planning to "hijack" the entire team from one of the top global banks present in India for its mutual fund foray.
India Infoline created a sensation in market circles when the Nirmal Jain-controlled brokerage house inducted four senior officials from French broking and investment banking major CLSA. It had offered a combined sign-on bonus of Rs 44 crore and a stake in the company.
"It is simply because all these firms are growing very fast and they need to be well equipped with talent to maintain this pace. The compensation differentials among home-grown and foreign firms are disappearing very fast. There are several advantages to the domestic players as they can offer Esops (employee stock option plans) along with flexibility and a more familiar environment. But even after working with a local outfit of global majors, one does not get a stake in the company," says Harshvardhan, partner, Boston Consulting Group.
Last year, Rahul Rege, who was in charge of the retail broking business of Brics Securities, left the organisation to join Centrum Capital, a Mumbai-based brokerage, as its CEO of retail operations. At least 25 people moved out from Brics Securities with him. Foreign brokerage Lehman Brothers had acquired the institutional business of Brics Securities.
Centrum Capital also appointed Meharboon Irani, who was vice-president (equity) at Darashaw & Co, as its vice-president, portfolio management services. Sashi Bhushan joined Way2Wealth from IL&FS Investsmart.
India's growth story has attracted a number of global investment banks and broking firms to open office here or expand their existing operations, leading to a huge competition among these firms to get the cream of available talent in India.
With attrition rates in banking and financial services at around 20-22 per cent, some of them are even tying up with various B-schools and colleges.