Companies on hiring spree for specialist gold traders, driving up pay

LONDON – Trading houses, hedge funds and banks are on a hiring spree for specialist gold traders as interest in the metal soars, creating a battle for talent that is driving up pay packages in what has historically been a niche market.

Major commodity traders Trafigura Group and Gunvor Group have both hired teams of precious-metals traders in 2025, while rivals IXM and Mercuria Energy Group have also been looking to hire in the sector, according to people familiar with the matter. Numerous hedge funds, banks and industrial companies like refiners are also either trying to break into precious metals or expand their teams, according to headhunters and industry executives.

While gold is a high-profile market, with the equivalent of hundreds of billions of dollars changing hands every week in the main hub of London, it has traditionally been dominated by a small handful of banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, HSBC Holdings and UBS Group operating with lean teams of traders. As prices soared in 2025, new market participants seeking to break into the sector had only a small pool of experienced traders to draw on.

“Precious metals traders are having a bit of their moment in the sun,” said Mr Alex Kerr, a commodities headhunter at Aurex Group. “It’s not just banks any more. Hedge funds and trading houses are all looking for precious metals traders or portfolio managers.”

In addition to soaring prices, precious metals markets have presented an array of opportunities for profit in 2025 – from a massive arbitrage trade that drew tens of billions of dollars’ worth of metal into the United States at the start of 2025, to the dramatic silver squeeze gripping the London market in October. 

The 12 leading banks collectively made US$500 million (S$649 million) from precious metals in the first quarter of 2025, the second-highest figure in a decade of data compiled by Crisil Coalition Greenwich. That is approximately twice the average earnings per quarter over the past ten years, the market intelligence firm’s data showed.

However, years of being a relatively neglected corner of many banks’ trading floors has hollowed out the pipeline of talent for traders and salespeople who understand not just the macro forces that buffet precious metal prices, but the practicalities of storing and moving metal. 

“The talent pool is so small that it is a very thin market,” said Mr Nicholas Snoek at commodities-focused headhunter HC Group. “Physical precious metals traders are in even shorter supply, given so much talent has retired in recent years and graduates are more focused on tech roles.”

Precious metals traders who previously had only a relatively small number of banks to choose between are now being courted by physical trading houses and hedge funds – which are also willing to pay more. Gold traders at physical houses can now get bonuses that were two to three times higher than what they would be paid at banks, according to Aurex’s Mr Kerr.

“This is one of the first times precious metals traders are actually getting paid like other commodity traders,” he said.

Physical trading houses like Trafigura and IXM typically already trade some gold and silver as a byproduct of their activities in copper, lead and zinc ore, known as concentrates. But the push to hire specialist traders marks an expansion, with Trafigura hiring three precious metals traders earlier this year.

“We are developing the full value chain from gold and silver concentrates to refined bars,” said a spokesperson for Gunvor, a trading house traditionally focused on energy that is now expanding in metals. It recently hired Mr Mark Devine, who previously worked at Marex Group and Macquarie Group, and has hired other traders from ICBC Standard Bank, Anglo American and StoneX Group, the spokesperson said.

In addition to the demand from trading houses, hedge funds, refiners, brokers and banks are also hiring precious metals traders, leading to a huge turnover of jobs at both senior and junior levels. 

“The people movements are the most I’ve seen during my career,” said Mr Bruce Ikemizu, an industry veteran and chairman of the Japan Bullion Market Association. “There aren’t that many really experienced people; we don’t have young kids coming into this business.” BLOOMBERG