JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) restructured its Oil Trading team last week, after the $1.7 billion acquisition of RBS Sempra Commodities LLP units. In that shake up, oil trader Ira Eisenstein also left the firm.
In a telephone interview yesterday Eisenstein commented “I am no longer there. A number of other people left at the same time. They are just restructuring.” JPMorgan trimmed oil traders to make room for new staff, Eisenstein said. Kimberly Weinrick , spokeswoman for JPMorgan, declined to comment. Blythe Masters leads JPMorgan’s global commodities unit, and trimmed headcount following acquisitions including units of Bear Sterns Cos and UBS AG. The bank began dismissals on July 21 to cut the RBS Sempra overlap and eliminated less than 10 percent of the combined “front offices,” Masters said that month.
The San Diego based Sempra Energy agreed with partner Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc to complete a $1.7 billion sale to JPMorgan of the venture’s metals, oil and European power and gas businesses on July 1. “The acquisition almost doubled the number of clients the firm’s commodities business can serve,” JPMorgan said in a Nov. 9 filing to the Securities Exchange Commission.Dominic Mound, a consultant at Commodity Appointments Ltd. said today from Singapore “For every organization that is reshaping their business, there’s likely another looking to hire. Demand for good, quality people remains strong.” Clearly, the market for professionals has turned – at the height of the financial crisis the picture of executives pouring out of skyscrapers with boxes in tow became common sight. Amidst a collapsing industry it took many of the months to find new jobs, and some still haven’t. But, producers are an exception to this rule – firms are always on the lookout for a good trader, with a strong book of business. Eisenstein, 52, said he joined the bank in April 2008 to help build the physical oil trading business. Among the people he worked with was Andy Kelleher, former president of ConocoPhillips Supply & Trading, who joined the bank in August 2009.
The bank may cut jobs at its industrial-metals team in London, according to a Dec. 1 Metal Bulletin report, citing unidentified people. At least two jobs there will be cut to eliminate duplication, according to the publication. In August, the bank said it would close the proprietary trading desk in commodities to comply with new U.S. curbs on investment banks, according to a person briefed on the matter. The closure affected fewer than 20 traders in the unit, the person said.
