JPMorgan Hong Kong tech chief resurfaces with big job title elsewhere

JPMorgan was your Ideal Employer this year. But that doesn't mean that it, or its $17bn technology budget, or even its equities trading pedigree, can keep a hold of (equities) technologists forever.

Get Morning Coffee ☕ in your inbox. Sign up here.

Steve Brooks has joined Macquarie in Hong Kong as a senior managing director, global head of equities technology, and head of Macquarie Capital’s technology team. Brooks previously had a near-two-decade stint at JPMorgan, where he was most recently a managing director and head of APAC equities technology for the firm, which he initially joined in London.

Brooks' time at JPMorgan matched the bank's rise up through the equities trading ranks. When he joined, JPMorgan was a second or third tier bank in equities trading, but following heavy investment in technology, it's reached an 11-12% market share in recent years. 

Macquarie's equities business and technology budget are considerably smaller. Macquarie CFO Alex Harvey, during the bank’s half-year results (coinciding with Q3 for most other banks), noted the bank’s continual “heavy” investment in technology, on account of both “obligations and opportunities” available to the firm. The Australian bank’s technology spend almost doubled from FY19 to FY23, going from AU$1.2bn (US$769m) to AU$2.2bn (US$1.5bn). That's a notable increase, but is less than 10% of the amount JPMorgan is spending.

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, WhatsApp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)