Nomura announced senior management changes in investment banking yesterday, saying it will transfer Glenn Schiffman to the US to head investment banking for the Americas from his current role as head of investment banking for Asia ex-Japan. Schiffman will be replaced in Hong Kong by Colin Banfield and Patrick Schmitz-Morkramer.
Schiffman's appointment will become effective February 1 but sources close to the development say he is not expected to move before April as he is keen to ensure a smooth transition. In the interim he will manage both jobs simultaneously. Tomoko Iino, who previously led investment banking for the Americas, will become co-head.
Before Nomura acquired the Lehman Brothers' franchise in Asia and part of Europe in 2008, Schiffman was head of investment banking for Asia-Pacific at Lehman Brothers, a post he had held since 2007. He started his career at Lehman Brothers in 1991.
Patrick Schmitz-Morkramer and Colin Banfield will become joint heads of investment banking for Asia ex-Japan, which means Nomura follows in the footsteps of Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS in appointing joint heads of investment banking in Asia. Sources close to the situation say the exact division of responsibilities between Schmitz-Morkramer and Banfield is yet to be decided. In other instances where firms have adopted a similar joint head structure, lines have been drawn either geographically or product-wise.
Banfield has around 19 years of advisory and capital market investment banking experience and has worked in Asia since late 1995. He currently heads mergers and acquisitions for Nomura for Asia-Pacific. Banfield joined Nomura from Credit Suisse in 2007. He will continue to head M&A for Nomura for the foreseeable future, said a source close to the development.
UBS also elevated its head of M&A, Matt Hanning, to co-head investment banking when Rob Rankin departed in March last year, but he relinquished the M&A portfolio to Stephen Gore shortly thereafter.
Patrick Schmitz-Morkramer is currently country co-head of Nomura Bank for Germany and head of investment banking for Germany and Austria. He joined Lehman in 1999 and has also worked at Shearman and Sterling. This assignment will be the first time Schmitz-Morkramer has worked in Asia. The increasing importance of cross-border deals and the need for connectivity across offices drove his appointment, said sources. He is expected to start sometime next month.
Nomura is making these appointments at an interesting time. Last year, revenues for most investment banks were driven by capital markets activity with some firms estimating that 75% of their wallet was derived from capital markets, making M&A a marginal contributor. However, most firms expect M&A will pick up in 2010 as acquirers regain confidence on the back of the recovery and improved financing markets.
