Investec recruits ex-Barclays manager

South African specialist bank Investec Investment Bank and Securities has appointed Paul Bail as director to its debt advisory team.

Bail, an experienced banker, will be responsible for focusing on expanding the team’s profile within the private equity community. He joins Investec from Barclays Bank where he was managing director of Leveraged Finance, Financial Sponsors Group. During his career, he also spent eight years with Bank of America, focusing on financial structuring, leveraged finance and M&A advisory.

Debt advisory is a large part of Investec’s business as the firm advised over £1bn of debt facilities in the past 12 months.

Bail is the first hire Investec has made since April of last year when the firm hired ten ex-Dresdner Kleinwort professionals, including managing directors, Chris Treneman, Charles Batten, Chris Baird and Jim Hamilton.

The hiring of ex-Dresdner staff came shortly after the bank was taken over by Commerzbank. This takeover led to the loss of over 1,000 City jobs, which halved Dresdner’s London workforce.