Rebound in the bond and equities market has triggered talent wars among stockbrokers seeking to grow their market share and take a larger slice of revenues from trading of the securities.
The wars, mainly targeting traders and research analysts, have been earnest in the last six months as the bourse sustained improved performance that has lured new listings and investors.
It has seen nearly a dozen seasoned traders and market analysts change employers together with an increase in internal promotions to retain talent.
Capital A Investment Bank, which maintained its leadership in Kenya’s bond market with a 22 percent market share at the end of June, has strengthened its research capability while investing in internal talent development as competition for experienced professionals intensifies.
“When markets are performing well, there is always a tendency for firms to re-equip their dealing desks,” said Linus Kang’ara, chief executive officer of Capital A Investment Bank.
“Rather than looking externally, we chose to strengthen and retain our existing talent by giving them greater visibility across both local and international markets, while backing them with a robust research capability. As part of that strategy, we appointed seasoned economist Churchill Ogutu to lead our Research Department,” he said.
Mr Ogutu joined Capital A in April from IC Group, an investment bank with regional operations, following the exit of Ronnie Chokaa as a senior research analyst. Mr Chokaa joined Sterling Capital Limited as a fixed income trader.
Kestrel Capital, which is under new leadership following a management buyout last year, has strengthened its equities desk with new hires. Gerry Ndung’u was poached from Pergamon Investment Bank while Anne Musyoka was brought in from Dry Associates. The stock brokerage also hired Caleb Nyangao and Kenneth Mutuura from the Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC).
Kestrel Capital traded shares worth Sh19.5 billion in the six months to June which was more than thrice the Sh5.9 billion traded in the same period last year. Its market share however shrunk due to the Sh204.3 billion bulk trade of Safaricom shares from the government to Vodacom executed by KCB Investment Bank and SBG Securities.
This trade lifted the two to be the top ranking in terms of market share with SBG Securities moving from second to first position with a 34.9 percent market share.
The trade propelled KCB Investment Bank from position 18 to second with a market share of 32.07 percent up from 0.78 percent. Kweli Capital which recently acquired Old Mutual Securities is seeking talent for its research desk as it seeks to revamp its trading capabilities.
Conventional banks have also moved into investment banking and fund management in a bid to keep money from corporate savers in their vaults. Customers are no longer just looking for a safe place to keep their money but also a return.
This has further fueled the talent wars with most commercial teams looking for players who are ready to go to market and grab the moment and not greenhorns. CIC Group, Ecobank Kenya and KCB Group are currently in the market for portfolio managers.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange -as measured by market capitalisation- was up 27.8 percent, or Sh817.2 billion in six months to reach a record high of Sh3.76 trillion as at June 30.
This was boosted by the listing of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) on March 11, which was the first Initial Public Offering in 18 years, and Family Bank Limited on June 23.
This has resulted in increased participation by investors, with the value of equities traded in the six months to June growing more than five-fold to Sh644.5 billion up from Sh112 billion same time last year.
The value of bonds traded over the six months to June rose by 22.4 percent to 3.4 trillion compared to Sh2.78 trillion traded over a similar period last year.