Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s financial institutions group took another hit last month when Simon Western left to become a managing director of Nomura Securities North America’s FIG. Western, 42, is just the latest defection from BofA’s FIG since February 2009.

Most of the dozen bankers who left BofA Merrill have landed at Deutsche Bank. The exodus followed the 2008 shotgun marriage between BofA and Merrill at the height of the credit crisis. Western expects financial institutions to continue to divest or reassess their asset management arms. He also anticipates further consolidation among hedge fund firms.