Blackstone, the US private equity giant, wants to recruit bankers in London after news started spreading of its expansion into Europe and the construction of a new office in March.
Seven months later, it appears that Blackstone has hired employees from BoA, Citi Group, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and possibly Commerzbank as well.
Blackstone revealed on Friday that its new office in London’s Berkeley Square will have 1,800 “seats,” after recruiting 200 in Europe between 2020 and March 2022 and already employing 500 workers in London.
The consequence is that once the new, purpose-built European headquarters is completed in 2028, London’s population might more than triple. For the year ending March 2021, Blackstone paid its 339 non-partner employees in the UK an average salary of £371k ($411k); partners received £1.8m each.
Blackstone’s passion for the UK coincides with CEO Steve Schwarzman’s search for Conholt Park, a 2,500-acre estate in Wiltshire, to serve as his own private piece of England.
As a result of the new British government’s fiscal fervor, the pound has been struggling. According to the Financial Times, this has discouraged some private equity investors from increasing their exposure to the UK due to the “scary” state of the economy, the possibility of runaway inflation, and an unusually long recession.
It appears that Schwarzman may not be concerned about this and may view the weakening of the pound as a purchasing opportunity.
Blackstone has been actively hiring at all levels in the UK in recent months. Notable hires include Thomas Honig, a partner from Deutsche Bank’s infrastructure business, Gabrielle Dale, a former managing director in Goldman Sachs’ investment strategy group, and Anders Ersbak Bang Nielsen.
Blackstone has been actively hiring in Dublin, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, and Paris in addition to hedging its exposure to Europe.
Business Insider claims that this signals the end of the summer months for young people in finance and that they are unsure of what to do about it because M&A and investment banking fees have dropped and banks are becoming agitated about costs.
However, the majority of mid-ranking and senior individuals are also unsure of what to do towards the end of an extraordinarily lengthy bull market.
