Deutsche Bank expansion could be game changer for Jacksonville

[JayBird]

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/2012/11/deutsche-bank-expansion-could-be-game.html

By the end of the year, 200 of Deutsche’s 1,400 Jacksonville employees will be investment bankers who specialize in sales, trading, origination, corporate finance and research. Building a front-office presence in Northeast Florida has evolved from an initial experiment in 2010 to a major component of the German investment bank’s American strategy.

That’s a major boon for the city â€" it’s high-paying, white-collar job creation. But it could mean even more if other major banks take notice of Deutsche’s game plan and see the potential of a more cost-effective way of handling front office operations in Jacksonville. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), for example, has supported Downtown Charlotte, N.C., revitalization efforts for decades.

Some good news for Jacksonville.  Nice to hear a positive comparison to Charlotte.

[Jason]

Agreed.  I'd like to hear more on their expansion plans.

[acme54321]

Are these jobs downtown?

[Tacachale]

^No, they're in their Southside locations. It's still been a great boon for the city.

[JayBird]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Giving up New York winters in favor of the Florida sun: It isn't just for retirees anymore.
Deutsche Bank is playing a leading role in Wall Street's transition away from the narrow New York street that is the industry's namesake. It is part of a frenzied cost-cutting effort across the banking industry, where flagging revenues are pinching profits.
Deutsche Bank, the Frankfurt-based lender that is one of the world's largest by assets, is trying to save €4.5 billion ($6.1 billion) annually by 2015. Part of its strategy can be found in a Jacksonville office park, where palm trees were swaying outside on a recent balmy day and where costs, for both the bank and its employees, are a fraction of what they are in New York.

From today's Wall Street Journal, paints the city in an excellent light as a great place to live and a smart place to locate your business.

http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424052702304176904579112822472241240?mg=reno64-wsj

[fsujax]

^^Don't tell some of the negative Nancy's on this site that! haha It would be cool if DB were downtown and had their signage on a building for all to see.

[Dapperdan]

Do you have another link to the story? The one above doesn't seem to work for me. It tells me the article is no longer available.

[JohnnyG]

Try this one: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304176904579112822472241240.html

[bencrix]

DB is a very progressive company from a sustainability perspective. I'm sure their European roots play a role in that. Assuming it is affordable, I would guess that they would be open to the concept of downtown Jacksonville (or improving the urbanism of their present location).

[Stephen]

Wonderful news...I hope they build a building or move into another building downtown. 

[JayBird]

Try this one: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304176904579112822472241240.html

Thank you, I posted from phone so may not work on computers.

[fsujax]

Got to love the sub title on the article, surfboards and a sea of parking. haha

[simms3]

I doubt DB moves DT; sounds like they are in Jax for cost-cutting reasons and while rents on the SS could ironically be higher than rents DT (we're talking the difference of a $1 or two), their overall costs to be DT are surely higher, thus defeating the whole Jacksonville purpose.

Deutsche Bank is in my building in SF coincidentally and we are hiring someone from DB to work with me in asset mgmt , and we're hiring someone from another IB across the street that exclusively handles tech M&A to be in acquisitions for us.  They aren't putting their best and brightest analyst and junior level roles in Jax despite it being one of the only offices they have that services corporate clients (as opposed to private wealth management, which is typically the extent of finance in Jax).  They're not trying to replicate the downtown banking culture that's really only found in NYC, Boston, SF, Chicago, and to a smaller degree LA and Houston.

Banking requires a large and defined business presence.  NYC = diversified.  Chicago = industrials.  SF = tech and healthcare.  Boston = healthcare.  LA = gaming/lodging/media.  Houston = oil & gas.  Jax = ? "outpost"

IBs need to be near their clients, and with none of their clients necessarily concentrated in DT Jax, or really in Jax at all, the SS is a logical "cost-cutting" area to locate a secondary campus in, and the appeal of office in Jax for transplants is the "campus" with the swaying palm trees as the article states.  Not the dated half empty DT office building that is not near a lot of restaurant choices.  Lol

[fsquid]

well that is a buzzkill Simms

[Cheshire Cat]

Another game changer?  I remember when AOL was the game changer. lol  I must ask though, what is the game these days?