Nomura has promoted Tarun Jotwani to head of global markets, responsible for both fixed income and equities, just one day after Jesse Bhattal got his own promotion to CEO of Nomura’s wholesale division.
Jotwani had been doing a good job of running the global fixed-income business, so giving him responsibility for equities as well is recognition of his achievements, said a source close to the situation. Jotwani now ranks as an executive vice-president at the Japanese bank.
Jotwani has been on a fast track at Nomura since it took over Lehman Brothers in October 2008. At that time Jotwani was chairman and chief executive officer of Lehman for India. A few weeks after the takeover in December 2008, Jotwani was promoted to global head of fixed income for Nomura, based in Tokyo. Then in April 2010, he took on the role of chief executive officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea), while retaining his fixed-income responsibilities.
But the move is also the latest attempt by the Japanese bank to boost the profitability of its equities business. Dealogic reckons that for calendar 2010 Nomura ranked 26th in equity capital markets in Asia ex-Japan with a market share of less than 1%. And with more than two-thirds of investment banking revenues in the region last year driven by the equity product, it is not surprising that Nomura is eager to improve its position.
“Tarun will lead both fixed income and equities under a fully integrated capital markets platform, setting strategy, prioritising resources and driving sustainable and profitable growth for all global markets businesses across all regions,” Nomura said in a written statement.
Jotwani will relinquish his role as CEO of Emea to John Phizackerley, who is currently joint chief administrative officer of the wholesale division, to enable him to focus on his global markets responsibilities.
Along with the promotion, Jotwani is bringing on board a former Lehman colleague to help him make Nomura’s equities platform more profitable. Benoit Savoret has joined Nomura as joint head of global equities, reporting to Jotwani. Savoret spent 11 years at Lehman Brothers, where he was chief operating officer in Emea, head of European equities and also earlier head of Asia-Pacific equities.
Rachid Bouzouba, who is currently joint head of global equities, “is discussing alternative roles with Nomura”, the statement added. Bouzouba was part of the team that Nomura acquired when it bought Lehman’s European business. He had been with Lehman since 2003 and was head of the European equities business when parts of the US investment bank were taken over by Nomura.
“These appointments represent a critical next step in meeting the increasingly sophisticated needs of our global clients through an integrated product offering, building even greater partnership between the businesses and regions, and driving overall profitability across the firm,” said Bhattal in the statement.
Bhattal got his own pat on the back earlier this week when he was promoted to CEO of the wholesale division of Nomura and deputy president of the Japanese bank, making him number three in the pecking order at Nomura. Bhattal took over from Takumi Shibata, who will become chairman of the wholesale division and co-deputy president.
Bhattal is widely credited with orchestrating the sale of Lehman Brothers’ Asia-Pacific business to Nomura. He decided to leave Nomura at the end of 2009 to set up a boutique investment banking firm. However, in April last year Nomura brought Bhattal back as president and chief operating officer of the global wholesale business in an attempt to stem the exodus of Lehman staff and create some value from the acquisition. At that time, Bhattal negotiated a seat on the Nomura board, making him the first non-Japanese to occupy such a position.
