A reunion bid between Deutsche Bank and one of its former senior bankers, Rob Allard, was abruptly scrapped, adding to an already tumultuous fixed income operation at the lender. Deutsche Bank was primed to hire Mr. Allard as part of a bid to shore up its fixed income unit, having incurred heavy turnover and cuts in recent months – the offer was pulled for unknown reasons.
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Deutsche Bank is presently in the midst of a multi-year restructuring process. Over the past two years, the group has seen thousands of job cuts and layoffs as part of a bid to restore profitability and stability to its global operations. While most of these cuts have been confined to back-office or IT roles, the lender’s fixed income and foreign Exchange and trading desks have also taken a sizable hit in terms of personnel. Earlier this year Deutsche Bank announced plans to cut six percent of its fixed income staff globally.
Mr. Allen was slated to succeed John Gallo for the role, who as recently as last week was reportedly parting ways with Deutsche Bank. The unit has been one of the most active in turnover already in 2017, and has already seen marquee internal moves and outright departures involving its global head, US head, European head, and Asian head of fixed income sales. The return of a familiar face to the unit was supposed to help instil a measure of stability at Deutsche Bank, which is looking to calm investor nerves after a recent string of setbacks for the lender over the past year.
Bloomberg
Mr. Allen worked at Deutsche Bank previously for over a decade between 1997 and 2008 – during his tenure with the lender he worked as a Managing Director and Head of Structured Product Sales. His return to the bank as Head of US Fixed Income Sales was supposed to shore up a void in Deutsche Bank’s fixed income unit.
For reasons unknown however, Mr. Allen’s offer was pulled by Deutsche Bank, which will once again place the unit in a period of flux. After leaving Deutsche Bank in 2008, Mr. Allen joined Goldman Sachs in New York where he held a similar role as its Head of Structured Product Sales for nearly six years. More recently however, he was a founding partner and CEO of Firebreak Capital, a hedge fund co-led by Allen and former Goldman Managing Director, Jonathan Egol.
Rob Allard
However, the closure of Firebreak Capital served as an impetus for Allen to re-enter the banking realm, which pointed to the signs of a reunion with Deutsche Bank.
