Welcome back to another issue of Career Guides Weekly by Career Guides. In today’s issue:

1. Commercial Awareness Update

   • News worth reading across the world of finance.

2. Ask the Community

   • Today’s reader has 2 years of experience working in a middle office role. Is now the right time for her to move into the front office? If so, how should she go about it?

In case you missed it, don’t forget to read last week’s 🧠 Career Advice newsletter which covered how to deal with an extremely difficult boss.

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COMMERCIAL AWARENESS UPDATE

In Today’s Issue:

• Investment Banking: Investment banks cut job vacancies in half as dealmaking slump hits recruitment and bonuses, Barclays to buy most of Tesco's banking arm for $757 million, and more

• Global Markets: Wall Street muted ahead of data-heavy week; Nvidia beats Amazon's market value, Keep calm and carry sterling, and more

• Asset Management: After Goldman Sachs, Julian Salisbury (ex-CIO) had two visions, WTW: Expect a broad range of investment outcomes this year, and more

• Private Equity: Evri: Private equity owners prep parcel giant for £2bn sale, Private real estate might bottom out this year, and more

• Hedge Funds: Hedge funds face cash drought as most strategies lose luster, Investors pay higher hedge fund fees for first time in a decade, and more

• Venture Capital: How to get a job in venture capital in 2024, UK fintech Onfido in talks to be acquired for $400mn, and more

INVESTMENT BANKING GET THE 100-PAGE GUIDE HERE

U.S. regulators have asked Citigroup for urgent changes to the way it measures default risk of its trading partners and the bank’s own auditors have found a plan to improve internal oversight to be lacking, developments that could hinder CEO Jane Fraser's plans to revive the bank's fortunes. Read on here.

Major investment banks have cut their number of UK job vacancies in half over the last year as a dealmaking slump puts a strain on recruitment and bonuses. Analysis of job openings at Citigroup, Barclays, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and HSBC found that vacancies had plunged 50 per cent on average, according to the website Vacancysoft. Read on here.

• Investment banks cut job vacancies in half as dealmaking slump hits recruitment and bonuses (CAM)

• Citi hit by new Fed rebuke, setbacks on consent orders (RT)

• M&A bankers waiting for jobs to thaw: "Still a lot of hiring freezes out there" (EFC)

• Barclays investors crave simpler bank as CEO Venkat prepares revamp (RT)

• Barclays to buy most of Tesco's banking arm for $757 million (RT)

GLOBAL MARKETS GET THE 107-PAGE GUIDE HERE 

Wall Street's main indexes were muted on Monday, with investors gearing up for two crucial inflation reports during the week for clues on the interest-rate cut outlook, while Nvidia surpassed Amazon in market value for the first time in two decades. Read on here.

The U.S. dollar is very much in the driving seat of the foreign exchange market right now, but there is another currency reeling in yield-hungry traders just as the Federal Reserve and a raft of other central banks prepare to cut rates: the pound.

• Wall Street muted ahead of data-heavy week; Nvidia beats Amazon's market value (RT)

• Keep calm and carry sterling (RT)

• Bitcoin hits highest in more than two years (RT)

• Bloomberg’s first generative AI tool hits the terminal (INI)

• Who will fill the void left by Citi’s exit from the muni bond business? (INI)

ASK THE COMMUNITY

Middle Office to Front Office… 🤔

Reader: Female | 25 | London | Investments Middle Office | 2 Years Experience

Question: “I’m currently working in a middle office role and enjoy working with my company. I want to move to a role closer to the front office for career development and better pay so I have been doing some research (the career guides are super helpful!). What else can I do?”

Have an opinion, thoughts or advice worth sharing? Reply to this email (all responses are anonymous) and the best responses will be featured in the next issue later this week.

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ASSET MANAGEMENT GET THE 71-PAGE GUIDE HERE

With interest rates globally expected to fall in 2024, investors are highly attuned to how markets will affect their portfolios — and how they can take advantage of shifting dynamics.

WTW is telling allocators to expect a year marked by dispersion, both between geographies and between asset classes. According to a new analysis from the consultant, “Divergence is one of our major economic and capital market themes for 2024.” Read on here.

• After Goldman Sachs, Julian Salisbury had two visions (INI)

• WTW: Expect a broad range of investment outcomes this year (INI)

• Are asset managers ready for the new data demands of private markets? (INI)

• Can this novel fund change sustainable investing? (INI)

PRIVATE EQUITY | PRIVATE MARKETS GET THE 127-PAGE GUIDE HERE

• Private Real Estate might bottom out this year (INI)

• CVC logs into gaming with Runescape-maker acquisition from Carlyle (PEN)

• Evri: Private equity owners prep parcel giant for £2bn sale (CAM)

HEDGE FUNDS GET THE 116-PAGE GUIDE HERE

• Hedge funds face cash drought as most strategies lose luster (YF)

• Bill Ackman abandons effort to list European hedge fund in the U.S. (INI)

• Third Point takes large stake in Alphabet (again) (INI)

• Investors pay higher hedge fund fees for first time in a decade (FT)

VENTURE CAPITAL GET THE 122-PAGE VC GUIDE HERE

• How to get a job in venture capital in 2024 (EFC)

• UK fintech Onfido in talks to be acquired — with first backer set to make 320x return (TC)

• Kenya’s Ilara Health gets $4.2M backing to expand clinic-support services (TC)

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

🧠 10 Things You Need To Know About The CFA Qualification

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