Following a record Q1 for Arbitrage it is a good time to sit back and assess why this has happened, and where the next trends are for the coming year.

As I write this blog another major investment bank is close to making its second round of Economist redundancies. This adds to reductions made over the past year at Nomura, Credit Suisse, SocGen etc, plus this is on top of the continued pay freeze at the Bank of England encouraging many to look around who were otherwise content.

Still, why might a Search firm charge a firm £33k for a £100k salary, when an estate agent charges £1,500 for a £100k property?

We are approaching graduate season, and once again Arbitrage is looking to find the best talent going, so what are the skills we (or our clients) are looking for?

The market has changed a lot over the last few years.

The last few years have seen significant change in the demand for economists. There was a time when economists from central bank backgrounds weren't the favoured choice for investment banks and hedge funds – after all it was argued, they will take too long to get to grips with the markets.