Stifel makes a number of job cuts to its equities business in London

US investment bank Stifel has made a number of jobs cuts to its London equities business in recent weeks according to two people familiar with the matter.

Daniel Arnold, a managing director in equities trading, has left the business, as has Adam Lawson, a director in specialist technology equity sales, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private. A number of equity research roles were also cut, the people said.

Arnold previously worked as a senior trader at Oriel Securities which was acquired by Stifel in 2014. Prior to this he worked in equity trading at Australian bank Macquarie and German firm Dresdner Kleinwort. Lawson was employed at N+1 Singer and Panmure Gordon prior to joining Stifel.

Arnold and Lawson didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

“We conduct regular reviews of the business and make adjustments, as needed, based on market conditions, client needs and our strategic objectives as a firm,” said Neil Shapiro, head of corporate communications at Stifel. “This sometimes means streamlining and rightsizing the business or reallocating resources from one area of the firm to another,” he added.

The job cuts were not part of a mass layoff or a larger restructuring of the firm, but part of a regular review of the business.

John Mennis, head of institutional equity sales in London, also recently retired from Stifel, following a lengthy career in the City involving stints at HSBC James Capel, Schroders, Citigroup and Cenkos Securities.

The US investment bank has made a number of acquisitions in Europe. It agreed to buy Germany’s Mainfirst Bank in November 2018, to bulk up its German and Swiss equity research business, and in preparation for Britain’s exit from the European Union. Prior to this it acquired Oriel Securities, the London-based stockbroking and investment banking firm in 2014, to build out the company’s international platform.