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Bank dealmaking circus=recruiting bait?

Some in the financial industry apparently smell opportunity in the latest round of mergers and blood-letting among top banks.

Referring to the Wells Fargo takeover of Wachovia as the WWF and placing Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis atop a bucking Merrill Lynch bull are just a couple of the attention-getting devices financial sector recruiting firm RJ & Makay uses in its latest promotional You Tube video.

Branching out from a previous video aimed at Merrill Lynch brokers, the new “Billion Dollar Video” (the company claims assets from advisers brought to them via these viral recruiting tools represent billions of dollars) targets all financial advisers but specifically appeals to those currently at Merrill Lynch and Wachovia.

Those brokers are grappling with with the question of whether to accept a retention/transition package, move to another firm or go independent. RJ & Mackay is clearly hoping they'll opt to walk and chose the firm to advise them on where to go next.

The just over four-minute short could help at least get their attention. It's an equal opportunity stick poker, targeting all the big hits of this financial season. JP Morgan Chase, Bear Stearns, Fannie and Freddie are all in there along with Lehman, Buffett, Goldman, AIG, Morgan Stanley, Bernanke, Paulson, the government bailout, executive greed, executive kool-aide dispensers and dealing with those pesky gnats, known as recruiters.

Watch here:

Job Bank – Nov.18

The following financial services industry appointments were announced on November 18, linked where possible to personal profiles on LinkedIn. To inform us of other job changes, please contact: moves@thomsonreuters.com.

FARMERS GROUP, INC.

Paul Hopkins has been named chairman of the board of Farmers Group, Inc., a Los Angeles-based subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services Group. Hopkins is currently the chief executive officer of the firm and will be replaced by Bob Woudstra, currently the president and chief operating officer for Farmers Group, Inc.

SUNWEST BANK

Chris Walsh has been named executive vice president and chief banking officer of the Tustin, California-based Sunwest Bank.

MORGAN STANLEY

Where the jobs are

“We’ve hardly felt the financial crisis.”

Now there’s a sentence you don’t expect to hear these days.  It comes from a headhunter for a temp agency in Germany, where apparently the financial sector is like Teflon: although German banks foresee some of the job cuts afflicting its peers  –  RBS among the most recent — there have been relatively few layoffs so far.

In a refreshing twist to a dire employment situation, headhunters in Germany are now scrambling to fill a slew of temporary banking jobs. Problem is, jittery bankers don’t want to switch firms in the middle of a crisis.

But it’s a different ballgame in London, where there the number people chasing jobs has doubled from last year in what one job expert calls “one of the most difficult periods in decades.” To top it off, the city once poised to replace New York as the financial center of the world is being blamed for the greed that sparked the financial crisis.

Back on Wall Street, Citibank is readying to slash another 10,000 jobs worldwide and trim its compensation budget as its shares skid.

On a bright note, some good news for women seeking a corner office in the finance sector: Japan’s Michiko Achilles recently became the first female director of Aozora Bank in what she calls a “new experience” for her male peers.

Bracing for the pink slip epidemic

After a seemingly endless run of job cuts this week, Chrysler’s plan to slash a whopping 25 percent of its white-collar jobs handily goes to show how quickly problems in the finance sector leak into the rest of the economy.

Taken alongside cuts at Yahoo, Xerox and others, could this be the beginning of the so-called “pink slip epidemic”?

“When the dot-com and housing bubbles burst, it was easy to see what types of jobs would disappear. But these days as nervous lenders cower and credit contracts, virtually every industry is likely to be scathed in the widely predicted downturn,” writes Business Week‘s Moira Herbst.

The Wall Street Journal paints a similarly dire picture, noting that once-sheltered industries such as healthcare and technology are likely to feel the pinch, culminating in more job cuts and a steeper economic slump than most imagined.

But is that a bright spot? Breaking Views via the New York Times writes that Goldman Sachs’ plans to slash its headcount by 3,300 might not necessarily be a signal of doom. After all, Goldman managed to sidestep much of the credit damage that befell its peers, and its downsizing plans will bring it in line with rival Morgan Stanley. Is it just a simple game of catch up?

Big isn’t always better for brokers

Beaten-down brokers are weighing the benefits of staying at Wall Street mammoths Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch in a time when even the big guys aren’t so safe anymore. Turns out, well-established firms are still attractive to many brokers even as some decide to break ties altogether to set up their own shop.

“Merrill advisors are looking at the prospect of working for Ken Lewis and Bank of America and fear they will find themselves in a cost-cutting mentality,” says Howard Diamond, CEO of Diamond Consultants, a New Jersey-based financial services recruiter.

But avoiding a job loss might be harder than simply switching firms. The U.N.’s International Labour Organization said on Monday that an estimated 20 million jobs will disappear by the end of next year as the financial crisis swirls.  Think you’re next? Consult the Wall Street Journal’s handy “Five signs you may be on the layoff list” for more clues.

Job Bank – Sep. 29

The following are recent job changes within the financial industry, linked where possible to profiles on LinkedIn. To inform us of other job changes, please e-mail moves@thomsonreuters.com.

MORGAN STANLEY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT The asset manager appointed Richard Ford as managing director and portfolio manager in its Global Fixed Income Team. Previously he was with PIMCO.

AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS The asset management company named Eric Chaney, previously with Morgan Stanley, as chief economist, AXA Group. Chaney will join AXA on November 1.

PIONEER INVESTMENTS The investment management group named William Porter director of U.S. consultant relations, and Scott Krattenmaker and George Lynch vice presidents of institutional sales. Previously, Porter was with State Street Global Advisors and Krattenmaker with Standish Asset Management, while Lynch joins from Fidelity Family Office Service.

MORTGAGEBROKERS.COM HOLDINGS INC The mortgage brokerage hired Glen Collier as regional vice president. Collier was earlier with Royal Bank of Canada.

WELLS FARGO INSURANCE SERVICES INC The insurance brokerage hired Alan Boring as a senior vice president and sales executive in the Southern California region. Boring was previously with Rollins Burdick Hunter and Aon.