The incredible 29 year-old trader at Credit Suisse - eFinancialCareers

The incredible 29 year-old trader at Credit Suisse - eFinancialCareers
Christmas (on the Cheap) in January - The New York Times
Skyscanner reveals the best destinations for winter sun where temperatures are soaring but flights are - The Sun

Posted: 19 Jan 2020 11:49 PM PST

The kids are alright. Goldman Sachs has Wajih Ahmed, now aged around 22, who was a child prodigy long before he joined Goldman. And Credit Suisse has Hamza Lemssouguer, a comparatively recent graduate of France's Ecole Polytechnique, who seems to be making all the difference to the Swiss bank's credit trading P&L.

Aged just 29 and having graduated in mathematics from Ecole Polytechnique in 2015, Lemssouguer is now working on Credit Suisse's high yield desk. There Reuters reports that he singlehandedly generated $120m in revenues last year or around 5% of Credit Suisse's total fixed income revenues (based on 2018). Credit Suisse's high yield trading desk is said to have generated $140m in profits in 2019, and Reuters says Lemssouguer was responsible for a 'material' proportion of this.

If they get it right, it can be easier for human beings to generate big revenues in the illiquid high yield market than in the investment grade credit market, where more uniform debt products can be exchanged electronically. High yield is where Tom Malafronte, now head of Goldman Sachs' leveraged finance group, also made more than $100m, aged 34, in 2016 after buying in cheap junk debt early in the year and selling it more expensively later. Then, Malafronte's profits reopened the debate about what constitutes proprietary trading (theoretically banned) vs. what constitutes market making (still allowed), but that doesn't seem to have inhibited Lemssouguer three years later.

Reuters reports that Lemssouguer owed his success to 'bets' on debt belonging to the likes of Thomas Cook, the bankrupt British holiday firm and Altice, the struggling cable TV provider. However, this doesn't mean that 2019 was an easy year to make money in high yield: Reuters notes that Bhavit Sawjani, head of JPMorgan's European high yield desk, left last year after his desk made $40m in losses, and that Paras Shah who was in a similar position at Citigroup, departed for the same reason. Goldman's high yield desk made money early in the year and then lost it later on.

Despite the losses, JPMorgan's Sawjani has moved to the buy-side. Now that his name's out, there's surely a danger that Lemssouguer will decide to do this too. $100m of profit at the right hedge fund can generate up to $10m in bonuses, while most banks haven't paid this kind of money for years.

Credit Suisse has already promoted Lemssouguer, who was made head of European high yield credit in the summer. The question now is how much of the 2019 bonus pool he gets too. Reuters notes that the high yield bond market is increasingly volatile, with the potential for big gains and big losses. Lemssouguer might, therefore, want to moderate his expectations for last year on the basis that the bank will look after him this year if things don't work out quite so well.

Separately, the prognosis for Deutsche Bank's bonus pool seems to worsen each time it's mentioned in public. In early September, Bloomberg said Deutsche was thinking of cutting the bonus pool by 'as much as 20%'. On Friday, it said that Deutsche Bank is actually thinking of cutting bonuses in the investment bank by 'around 30%'. This is reportedly partly as result of last year's headcount reductions. However, given that headcount in the investment bank was only down around 10% year-on-year at the end of the third quarter, it seems to be rather more than that too.

Deutsche's traders seem to have noticed that they might be being short changed. Bloomberg reports that heads of the fixed income trading and research businesses have been petitioning management for an increase. Given that Peter Selman, the now ex-head of the now ex-equities business, was said to have done much the same last year, they may be out of luck. In the meantime, Peter Wharton Hood, who was known for giving pep-talks in his previous role as COO of Deutsche's corporate and investment bank, seems to have officially retired...

Meanwhile:

There could be more quant hedge fund redundancies as the sector goes through a 'quant winter'. (Financial Times)

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman had a 7% pay cut for 2019 and will now receive a $27m package. (Financial Times)

Law firm Slaughter and May used to run work ski trips, but has banned them after a female lawyer accused a male lawyer of sexual harassment on a skiing break. (RollonFriday)

UK Chancellor Sajid Javid has invented a new category for UK financial services after Brexit: 'outcome-based equivalence'. It's not clear whether the EU is buying this. (Financial Times)

Asset management firm GAM holding is preparing to cut bonuses as well as up to 40% of its staff. (Bloomberg)

Nomura hired consumer banker Marco Acaia from Moelis. (Financial News)

After achieving returns of 28% last year, Greg Coffey would like it to be known that he will stop accepting new outside capital at the end of March. (Reuters)

UBS's private bankers were afraid to leave the office at Christmas for fear that Iqbal Khan would cut their jobs during the holiday. (Bloomberg)

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan is uncomfortable talking about his own achievements and says the bank has done well because his team can "actually walk and chew gum." (Financial Times)

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Christmas (on the Cheap) in January - The New York Times

Posted: 20 Dec 2019 12:00 AM PST

It's the season of lights, holiday markets and caroling. And it's also a time of crowds and inflated hotel rates.

But many cities keep the seasonal lights on in January, when the throngs and prices ease. Many also add events to entice travelers, including food and arts celebrations.

The following cities make a thrifty financial case for celebrating the holidays in January.

Chicago

Most of the seasonal displays in Chicago are up through Jan. 5, including the ZooLights at the Lincoln Park Zoo (free admission); Lightscape, a mile-long illuminated path with a tunnel and singing trees, at the Chicago Botanic Garden (from $17); "Christmas Around the World" at the Museum of Science and Industry, featuring more than 50 lighted trees (from $19.95); and heli-holiday light tours with Chicago Helicopter Experience ($159.99 a passenger).

The family-friendly Fifth Third Bank Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier continues through Jan. 12 with an indoor holiday playground, inflatable slides, aerialist shows and carnival rides (from $20).

A Chicago resident, I start every New Year's Day at the Skating Ribbon at Maggie Daley Park, an outdoor ice path (free; skate rentals from $13). There's also free skating at nearby Millennium Park (through March 8).

It may be freezing, but as far as crowds go, January is an uncongested month to visit Chicago, with added attractions that include the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival (tickets from $15; Jan. 9 to 19) and Chicago Restaurant Week (Jan. 24 to Feb. 9).

As the temperatures drop, so do hotel rates. The first weekend in January, Expedia recently had rates at the Ace Hotel Chicago at $131, about $100 less than in mid-December.

Kansas City

For 90 years, the Plaza Lights have brightened 15 blocks of buildings on Country Club Plaza, a Spanish-inspired shopping district built in 1922. Strings of lights outline rooflines, corners and windows though Jan. 12.

"Kansas City is a Sister City with Seville, Spain, and much of the architecture of the plaza looks like Seville," said Diana Lambdin Meyer, a Kansas City-based freelance writer who has written travel guides to Kansas. "It has beautiful Moorish architecture you don't expect to see in the Midwest and if you go late at night, when there are no cars and a little snow on the ground, it's magical."

At downtown's Crown Center, the Mayor's Christmas Tree — this year a 100-foot-tall conifer decorated in 10,600 white bulbs — will remain in place through Jan. 5. But ice skating at the adjacent Crown Center Ice Terrace will continue through March 8 (admission $7; rentals $4).

In recent searches, the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center didn't show much fluctuation in rates between December and January, starting at around $134 on Orbitz. But a stay at the art-filled 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City dropped by about $100 a night in January to around $225.

Post-holiday, visitors can also take advantage of Kansas City Restaurant Week, which runs Jan. 10 to 19, featuring menus at $15 and $35 at more than 200 restaurants.

New York City

The epicenter of Manhattan holiday décor, Rockefeller Center, will keep its 77-foot-tall Norway spruce tree, strung with five miles of wire and 50,000 lights, illuminated until mid-January.

There are more displays in other boroughs, including Queens, where the Hello Panda Festival at Citi Field features seasonal light displays, contemporary art exhibitions and interactive games through Jan. 26 (adult admission from $25). Staten Island's Winter Lantern Festival runs to Jan. 12 (from $23). In the Bronx, the New York Botanical Garden runs its Holiday Train Show through Jan. 26 (from $23) and the Bronx Zoo turns on its holiday lights Jan. 3 to 5 (from $22.95).

Hotel savings are significant: In early January, rates at the W New York - Times Square could be found on Google for $156 a night, hundreds of dollars cheaper than on a mid-December weekend.

"Travel in January is just so much more astoundingly affordable in New York," said Pauline Frommer, the editorial director of Frommer's and author of "Frommer's EasyGuide to New York City 2020." For continued festivities, she highlighted the No Pants Subway Ride (Jan. 12), Winter Jazzfest (Jan. 9 to 18) and NYC Restaurant Week, which offers discounts (Jan. 21 to Feb. 9).

Winter, she added, "is risky weather-wise, but so much of the action in New York is inside that it really doesn't matter as much."

San Antonio

During the holidays in San Antonio, more than 2,200 strings of lights drape the bald cypress trees that line the riverside public walkway known as the Riverwalk and stay in place through Jan. 13. Nearby, a new outdoor ice rink joins the 50-foot Christmas tree in downtown Travis Park, open for skating through Jan. 31 (admission $10; skate rentals $4). About three miles north, Light the Way, an installation illuminating the University of the Incarnate Word, runs through Jan. 6.

Reflecting its Latin American culture, San Antonio widely celebrates Three Kings Day, the day the three wise men presented Jesus with gifts, according to the Bible. The Puerto Rican Heritage Society Fiesta de los Tres Reyes takes place Jan. 5 and includes music and a telling of the story at downtown's San Fernando Cathedral (free). In addition to its display of nine million lights, SeaWorld San Antonio will stage appearances by the kings from Jan. 1 to 5 (admission from $54.99).

David Gonzalez, the spokesman for Visit San Antonio, said hotel rates ran 5 percent lower last January versus December 2018. This year, several hotels are offering holiday packages, including the Hilton San Antonio Hill Country where rates start at $89 and include complimentary s'mores kits, outdoor movies and shuttles to SeaWorld through Jan. 13.

London

Many of the lights of London switch off after Jan. 5, including the LED curtain lights on Oxford Street and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland's ice rink, roller coasters and an ice bar (free admission). But some remain on longer, including "Chromotherapy Christmas" at Eccleston Yards, featuring 500 suspended orbs in colors said to energize, calm or evoke happiness (free; through Jan. 11).

Others switch on in January, such as the Winter Lights installation at Canary Wharf, promising more than 25 installations that include grids of dangling light strings, illuminated fountains and projected images (free; Jan. 16 to 25). Lightopia comes to Chiswick House and Gardens Jan. 22 to March 1 (from 20 pounds, or about $26.25).

In addition to being free, many London museums, including the Tate Britain and Tate Modern, are less crowded.

"While January is one of the colder months in the capital, I'd argue that this provides the perfect opportunity to buy a new sweater in the famous January sales," Laura Citron, the chief executive of London & Partners, the city's tourism agency, wrote in an email. Most sales, often the only sale of the year, run through the month.

Skyscanner reveals the best destinations for winter sun where temperatures are soaring but flights are - The Sun

Posted: 15 Oct 2019 12:00 AM PDT

WINTER can be one of the most expensive times of the year to travel if you're looking for somewhere warm to go to.

But there are a number of destinations around the world where, while temperatures are soaring, the price of flights are actually falling for Brits.

The Spanish island of Fuerteventura is cheaper this year than lastCredit: Look - Getty

Comparison site Skyscanner looked at destinations that are 22 degrees or above between November and February and tracked how the price of flights to those places changed between 2018 and 2019.

They found that a number of destinations are actually much cheaper this year compared to 2018.

This November for example, the price of flights to Marrakesh has fallen by 18 per cent compared to last year - and it still has average temperatures of 22 degrees.

The cheapest fares Sun Online Travel found was £72 for a return flight departing on November 23 and returning on November 30.

Price of flights to the Spanish island of Fuerteventura fell by 10 per cent this year compared to last year, and it still boasts an average high of 24 degrees in November.

Cruise company plans to launch a theme park on a ship featuring the world's longest rollercoaster at sea

For the warmest getaway in November, it's Phnom Penh, where average temperatures are a balmy 30 degrees and flights are 8 per cent cheaper this year compared to 2018.

Flights to Cambodia's capital are also significantly cheaper in December this year - and it's the best buy for the month according to Skyscanner.

One of the best deals we found to Phnom Penh was a return flight departing London Heathrow on December 1 and returning December 8 from just £319.

Other destinations Brits should consider this December include Doha in Qatar, Krabi in Thailand, Hurghada in Egypt and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

There are even greater savings in January 2020 compared to last year, especially to Hurghada.

The Egyptian resort is still seeing average temperatures of 23 degrees while flights are 23 per cent cheaper this year.

The cheapest flights we found started from just £204, departing on January 13 and returning on January 26.

For Brits who don't mind going further afield, there might also be good deals to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Buenos Aires in both January and February.