Umbers leaves his perch at Evolution Securities
ANDREW Umbers stepped down yesterday as chief executive of the securities arm at investment bank Evolution, after leading a recruiting drive over the course of the crisis.
Umbers did not give a reason for his decision, but said: “I now feel the time is right for me to pursue opportunities elsewhere.”
Group chief executive Alex Snow is to take over Umbers’ day-to-day responsibilities for the time being.
The news comes after Evolution on Monday issued a bullish pre-close trading update, in which it said full year revenues should be more than double the £65.2m the group made in 2008.
Umbers has been instrumental in beefing up the bank’s securities arm since he joined in 2006. Last May, in the middle of the crisis, he hired 45 ex- Dresdner Kleinwort employees to the business, boosting headcount at Evolution Securities by 30 per cent.
Last month, he appointed Garry Levin, the former managing director of KBC Peel Hunt’s corporate finance division, as head of Evolution’s equity corporate finance division.
And he recently set up a fixed income team at the group, which was led by Guy Cornelius until he resigned last week to join UBS.
ANDREW UMBERS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE, EVOLUTION SECURITIES
ANDREW Umbers has been with Evolution since April 2006, when he was appointed chief of its investment banking arm Evolution Securities.
He cut his teeth at Barclays de Zoete Wedd (BZW), which he joined in 1990, before moving to investment bank Credit Suisse when it bought BZW in 1997.
He was appointed a managing director of Credit Suisse Equities in 2000, and five years later joined the bank’s global hedge fund, Modal Capital.
Umbers’ basic salary, like that of other Evolution employees, is capped at £100,000, but benefits and performance-related bonuses boosted that figure to £712,000 in 2008 – meaning he is likely to be in line for a substantial severance payout.