Deutsche Bank to hire more investment bankers

* Already hired 40 investment bankers in Americas

* To beef up industrials, raw materials banking

* Banker optimistic on outlook for IPOs

By Paritosh Bansal

NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), which has navigated the crisis better than many large rivals, plans to hire more investment bankers in the Americas as it readies for an eventual turnaround, a top executive said on Wednesday.

The bank has already hired about 40 investment bankers in the past few months, said James DeNaut, head of global banking for the Americas.

The hires include more than 12 bankers for its financial institutions group from Merrill Lynch (BAC.N) alone.

DeNaut said the bank had made most of its significant hires in financial institutions, so the focus areas going forward are likely to be the other sectors where it expects activity in the coming months -- industrials and raw materials.

That would add to the hires it has already made there, including the recruitment in March of two managing directors for its natural resources group.