André Esteves, captain of the new global trading house-cum-merchant bank BTG, headquartered in the improbable setting of São Paulo, ducks his head into the room on the top floor of the swish, if bland, office building in São Paulo’s main business district. He is here to apologise for being late (by 36 minutes), but promises to be right back. By the time he strides back in, grinning, he has shaken hands on a deal to buy a chain of Brazilian gas stations.
Speed and an eye for opportunity have marked out Mr Esteves. He is one of the best known figures on the Brazilian investment scene, with a meteoric career and youth on his side (he is not yet 40). He worked his way up the ranks at Brazil’s quintessential high-octane trading house Pactual. Swiss bank UBS bought that operation in 2006 and quickly appointed him head of global fixed-income sales and trading.
