Ex-HSBC global head says he still "seethes" at the chaos of losing his job

This July, it will be three years since Stuart Kirk, the former global head of responsible investments for HSBC Asset Management, left the bank. Nonetheless, it's probably best not to mention it to him.

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Kirk didn't respond to a request to comment for this article, but writing on social media, he said he still 'seethes' at losing his job to this day. "The stress on my family. Giving up our London home. Being broke."

Kirk left HSBC in a unique set of circumstances, but other senior HSBC bankers may feel an affinity with his sentiments. After the bank announced plans to wind down its equity capital markets and M&A businesses outside of Asia and the Middle East, several hundred people there were cut last month, or face expulsion soon. Many, like exiting investment banking MD Faizan Ali Khan, have spent a decade or more with the bank.

Kirk's 2022 exit had an element of self-propulsion. He wrote at the time that he'd resigned after the bank's behaviour towards him made his job "unsustainable." The irony was noted given that Kirk's decision that he couldn't stay at HSBC followed a speech he gave at an event in May 2022, where he said that sustainable climate change investments were being driven by hyperbole, and that it made more sense to focus on inflation and growth in the short term. HSBC opened an internal investigation as a result. 

Writing this week, Kirk said he has since been vindicated. "Mindlessly cutting finance to coal, oil or gas companies makes no sense. Better to engage, help them transition, and spur the economic growth needed to invest in renewables." He added that he's a "fan" of ESG but mostly as a measure of "goodness." - "Regulation here is needed. One score per company, no argument. Only then will people know what they are buying."

Since leaving HSBC, Kirk has reverted to his previous career in journalism and now writes a column for the Financial Times. Other senior people coming out of HSBC in 2025 may not be so lucky. Hiring this year is modest, and managing directors already out of the market say that finding a new role is a challenge.

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