Nationwide Building Society, the largest U.K. thrift with more than GBP75 billion (USD107 billion) in assets, is looking to hire four derivatives-savvy professionals for its treasury department as it continues to increase its assets and therefore increase its risk management activities. The company is looking to hire a head of treasury risk to manage the GBP30 billion the department oversees.
Nationwide is also looking to hire two risk managers to focus on limiting the building society's exposure to market and credit risks, as well as another risk quant to handle modelling, said Alan Brown, treasury risk manager in Northampton. These three hires will report to Brown. But he declined comment on who the head of treasury risk will report to.
Nationwide already makes extensive use of interest-rate and foreign exchange derivatives, Brown noted. "This expansion is part of our overall business strategy," he added, declining to comment on how it will effect the building society's use of over-the-counter derivatives. Despite legislation that allowed Nationwide to use credit derivatives from last summer (DW, 6/4), Brown said it has not yet made its credit derivatives debut and has no immediate plans.
