ANALYSIS-Boutique brokers to cut slack in commodity jobs

By Pratima Desai

LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - Large banks may have shelved plans to expand commodity divisions but small niche players and boutique brokerages will take up the slack until financial uncertainty recedes, possibly in the third quarter.

Recruitment consultants in Britain say that until recently commodity recruitment had bucked the trend seen in other sectors such as equities, fixed income and foreign exchange where job cuts accelerated as bank losses mounted.

But now the need to consolidate balance sheets further and cut costs after the subprime mortgage crisis has prompted major banks and brokers to scale back growth plans in commodities.

"At the moment, big firms are imposing hiring freezes -- some with the hiring process at a very advanced stage," said Stephen McCarty, managing director at U.K.-based BlackSheep Selection.

"This is going to get worse over the next couple of months while all the skeletons in the closet are removed, and we should see a pick up in September-November, which is traditionally the busiest time of the year.

Recruiters agree the major trend now is the flow of people coming out of large banks to join boutique resource- focused banks, brokerages and research companies.

"Firms like Fox-Davies Capital, Ocean Equities and Fairfax have been aggressively targeting and hiring candidates who would not normally be looking to move," McCarty said.