J.P. Morgan is considering setting up a London-based power trading and marketing desk later this year as part of an effort to ramp up its energy derivatives business, according to DW sister publication Power Finance & Risk. Morgan is penciling in a fourth quarter entry date for power, by which time it should have got up to speed trading other more liquid European energy products, according to officials close to the firm.
Morgan began staffing up its European oil and gas derivatives marketing desk in London last week with the appointment of Rob Keen, a former Bank of America and Goldman Sachs commodity derivatives salesman. He reports to Jose Cogolludo, head of energy derivatives marketing. Cogolludo, an 11-year Goldman Sachs energy marketing veteran who joined Morgan earlier this year, is looking to make several more hires in the coming months to provide marketing coverage across mainland Western Europe. He will turn his attention to the U.K. gas market in the second half of this year and then look at power, says one official. Cogolludo and Keen declined to comment.
Market watchers say they would welcome the arrival of a new entrant into the power-trading arena, but remain skeptical of Morgan's ambitions. "It has been considering setting up a power desk for a while, but has continuously pushed back the start date," says one recruitment executive.
