Move the desk. Keep the working relationships.
Recruit an established trading desk or brokerage team as a coordinated group, with the roles, interest and receiving platform explored together.
Team Moves
Recruit the Team Behind the Capability
Confidential team moves, trading desk recruitment and team lift-outs across global commodity and financial markets.
Building a trading desk or brokerage team involves more than filling individual positions. You need complementary expertise, leadership and people who can work effectively together. Sometimes that capability already exists within an established team.
Imperium Commodity Search helps employers identify and recruit trading teams, brokerage desks and specialist groups through retained, confidential search. You may have a particular competitor team in mind, or need us to map the market and identify groups suited to your product, geography and growth plans.
We approach agreed individuals discreetly, establish their interest and help both sides examine the commercial proposition. That includes who would realistically move, the platform and resources they would need, remuneration expectations and the practical sequence of joining.
An established team can accelerate a build-out. Our role is to establish whether the people, economics and proposed platform support the move.
The Right Team Move Can Take Different Forms
Recruit an established desk, approach a leader with key colleagues, or build a team around your requirements.
You may want to recruit an intact trading team, bring in a desk head alongside selected colleagues, or assemble complementary specialists from different firms. We shape the retained search around the capability you need, then establish which people and combinations could realistically progress.
Choose the people. Build the capability.
Start with the leader. Bring the right colleagues.
Approach a desk head alongside selected colleagues whose expertise complements the move. The brief follows the capability needed, rather than the whole existing organisation.
Different firms. One coherent team.
Recruit a leader and complementary specialists from different businesses, bringing the appointments together through one coordinated retained search.
Illustrative structures. Moves depend on individual interest and an agreed commercial proposition.
A Strong Team Still Needs the Right Platform
Examine the commercial case behind a trading desk move, brokerage team lift-out or coordinated team build.
An established team brings experience of working together. Whether that translates into success elsewhere depends on the people, the opportunity and the platform supporting them.
Before progressing a commodity trading or brokerage team move, we help establish who is genuinely interested, which colleagues are essential and what they would need to operate effectively. Trading authority, credit capacity, systems, operational support and remuneration can all influence whether the proposition is credible.
Historic revenues and client relationships need context. We explore how much performance depends on the current business, which assumptions need further investigation and whether the receiving firm can support the proposed build. This gives both sides a clearer basis for deciding whether to proceed.
The ambition is to move a team. The judgement is knowing what will make it thrive.
A Team Move Needs One Coordinated Approach
Retained research, confidential approaches and managed recruitment for trading teams, brokerage desks and specialist groups.
A team move involves several individual decisions. The leader may be interested before colleagues have considered the opportunity. Different remuneration expectations, notice periods and personal circumstances can affect who progresses and when. We keep those conversations connected while establishing each person’s interest independently.
Imperium combines competitor mapping with discreet approaches to agreed team leaders and relevant colleagues. We agree disclosure before contact, qualify the proposed combination and help the hiring business understand which appointments depend on others. Your brief can begin with a known competitor desk or a wider search for the capability you want to build.
As discussions progress, we coordinate introductions, interviews, package discussions and the proposed sequence of joining. Direct partner involvement and dedicated research provide continuity as the shape of the team develops, including identifying additional specialists where the agreed brief requires them.
Team Moves: Your Questions Answered
What is a team move or team lift-out?
A team move, also called a team lift-out, involves recruiting an established group of professionals into another business. This may be an intact trading desk, a brokerage team, or a leader with selected colleagues whose expertise fits the hiring firm’s plans. Imperium undertakes this work through retained, confidential search.
Do we need to know which team we want to recruit?
No. You can begin with a known competitor desk or a wider objective, such as entering a commodity market, establishing a brokerage capability or expanding into a new geography. We map relevant businesses and teams, agree priorities and approach selected individuals discreetly.
Where an existing group does not match the brief, we can also recruit complementary specialists from different firms through a coordinated team build.
Which trading and brokerage teams can you help recruit?
Our search work covers commodity trading, brokerage and related financial markets, including energy, metals, agriculture, shipping and derivatives. A brief may include desk heads, traders, brokers, originators and supporting specialists. The product coverage, geography and combination of roles are agreed for each mandate.
How do you manage confidentiality when several people are involved?
Before contact, we agree the targets, exclusions, initial proposition and what can be disclosed at each stage. We establish each person’s interest independently and coordinate introductions where there is a basis to progress.
Interest from a team leader does not establish that their colleagues have agreed to move. We clarify those dependencies as conversations develop, while respecting existing client relationships and protections.
Will a team’s clients and revenues transfer to our business?
That should not be assumed. Historic performance may depend on the existing firm’s capital, credit, infrastructure, brand and relationships. We explore the proposed commercial case and the information available, helping identify assumptions that need further investigation.
Recruiting an established team does not guarantee that its clients or revenue will follow. The opportunity needs to be assessed against the receiving platform and its resources.
Can the team join at different times?
Yes. Individual availability and notice periods may mean a staggered sequence is more realistic than a single joining date. We help both sides establish which appointments depend on others, what interim support is needed and whether the proposed timing works for the business.
Is your team recruitment service retained?
Yes. Imperium works exclusively on a retained basis. We agree the team search brief, research scope, fees and payment terms before work begins. The mandate can cover an agreed target group or a broader market search, depending on the capability you need to build.
How does a team move differ from acquiring a business?
A team move recruits people into your platform. An acquisition involves the business itself and may include its assets, infrastructure and wider operations. The routes involve different considerations, even when they support the same growth objective.
Where the capability you want is embedded in the wider organisation, explore our M&A target research and confidential introductions.
