New York, 19 September 2009 

The recruitment drive for energy traders at banks and marketing personnel at the wholesale and retail levels is back on track after a hiring freeze that lasted from late 2008 to the middle of this year, energy personnel recruiters told OPIS on Wednesday. 

However, the hiring of traders at the refineries remains stuck at neutral gear due to poor refining margins.

Most companies and banks are lured back into the commodities markets by the strong rebound in oil and commodities prices since the beginning of this year, and some are looking for replacements for the positions that were vacated late last year. This could also point to a potentially greater flow of funds from financial institutions into the commodities market in the longer run.

Banks are still offering huge annual bonuses for the current year, but multi‐year guaranteed bonuses for "star traders" or team leaders are less common now.

"Banks are now scrambling to fill holes on their trading desks for oil, metals, coal, agricultural products and commodity indexes," said George Stein, managing director of New York‐based Commodity Talent LLC.

"Our clients are moving ahead with multiple searches on an urgent basis," he added. Stein said that the hiring spree of traders was spurred by a "pent‐up demand."

The list of banks looking for energy traders includes Citi Group, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered and Credit Suisse.

OPIS noted that most of these banks are hiring paper or derivatives traders. There are only a few banks that engage in physical trading.

OPIS reported recently that JP Morgan has hired a veteran trader to build a physical products trading team from the ground up, and Fortis Nederland is looking for paper traders in New York.

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