Forex staff home to roost

LONDON -- More forex dealers working in the world’s top financial centres are returning to their native countries, market participants told FX Week.

Advances in technology that mean banks do not have to be located in the largest financial centres are driving the trend, said market participants. Family issues -- and the desire for a quieter life away from the high-pressure environments of London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo -- are also proving to be important.

The winners are regional marketplaces that benefit from the expertise of veterans in the global forex markets, said one market participant at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen, which is staffed by a number of senior ex-New York and London bankers.

"It’s a choice of lifestyle, and it helps regional players who normally would not be able to hire traders with such skills," said head of fund management Steen Jakobsen, who worked for 10 years in New York at banks such as Chemical Bank and Union Bank of Switzerland. "They return with valuable training and ideas, which add edge to the local marketplace," he added.

Many market participants are driven home because of family commitments said Jakobsen. "For me, it was a matter of honouring my wife in that she stayed out for 10 years with me," he said. "She wanted to re-ignite her own career. And with the kids growing up, she wanted to make sure they knew their family."

For others, burnout from the relentless pressure of working in a large financial centre has prompted the return to less pressurised environments.

"For many, part of the transition is not driven by lifestyle but because a large number of people can’t stand the heat," said one senior FX official at a US bank in London.

"Most FX traders have a shelf life, and after 10 or 15 years of stress and pressure they want a quieter life and time to spend with their families," explained an FX recruiter in London who places dealers across different financial centres.

However, dealers don’t necessarily want to leave the market, the recruiter said. And banks will often negotiate moves for staff they do not want to lose.

"One of my senior dealers who was based in Tokyo started a family and wanted to return to the UK," said one former global head of FX at a European bank. "You don’t want to lose your best people so some firms will go the extra yard to meet requests like that."

Forex dealers don’t always move in order to return home. Many take advantage of the global nature of the industry to move to a new country.

"It was very difficult at first," said one senior FX dealer from the US who settled in the Netherlands 15 years ago. "But learning the language and culture of a new country is a challenge which can be very rewarding."