BTIG announces opening of Singapore office

BTIG LLC, a global US-based broker-dealer specialising in institutional trading, said yesterday that it has opened an office in Singapore through its affiliate BTIG Singapore.

This is the latest step in BTIG's global expansion and adds to its growing list of overseas offices in London, Sydney and most recently Hong Kong, where it gained a licence two months ago. BTIG's Singapore office also opened for business two months ago, and since then the firm has been marketing to local fund managers and has been trading equities in Asian markets on a regular basis.

"Singapore expands our global footprint in Asia and provides us with an on-the-ground presence in one of the region's most important financial markets," said Kevin Chessen, head of BTIG's international effort in a press statement. "BTIG is well positioned to provide our clients with a platform that they need to operate globally."

The Singapore office is headed by Steve Conway, chief executive officer of BTIG Singapore. Conway joined BTIG in 2008 to build the firm's sales and trading presence in the region. He began his investment career in 1987 trading for Nomura in London, and has over two decades of experience trading Asian equities and derivatives for Barings, Schroders and Credit Suisse. Before moving to Singapore, Conway spent four years in New York, 10 years in Japan and most recently four years in Indonesia, where he ran his own investment firm.

Conway believes the firm's greatest strengths are its "resources", by which he means the "highly experienced and knowledgeable traders and salesmen" he has working for him. The firm also focuses on the demands of its clients rather than on pushing a particular product line or on hitting volume targets, which he hopes will distinguish his operation from the bulge-bracket banks. The firm doesn't take proprietary positions.

"We are firmly client-focused, establishing relationships in the immediate vicinity and servicing them in all important regional equity markets: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand -- and we have a dedicated US-based team that covers the Japanese market," Conway told FinanceAsia.

"This is an exciting step in BTIG's global growth plan. Singapore, along with our Hong Kong presence and our dedicated desk covering Japan, provides us with an important gateway to the rest of Asia," he added. "Our team members in Singapore bring with them exceptional knowledge of the local financial markets as well as strong client relationships across Asia."

Conway is joined by sales traders Grant Williams and Henry Gordon. Williams has 24 years of experience in Asian equity markets. Prior to joining BTIG, Williams was a senior trader at Credit Suisse in Sydney, and has previously held senior roles in London, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo with Robert Fleming, UBS, Bank of America and Credit Suisse. 

Gordon has 14 years of experience in the Australian and Asian equity markets, and began his career with Goldman Sachs JBWere in 1996 before moving to London with Credit Suisse in 2003. He joined BNP Paribas as London head of Asian hedge fund sales in 2006, before running an Asian long/short book at Peloton Partners in London in 2007. Most recently, he returned to the sell-side at Lehman Brothers in Singapore.

The fourth member of the team is Peter Bass, who is the principal Japanese execution trader, supporting a dedicated team based in New York. Bass started his career at Nomura in London in 1987 trading Japanese and Asian equities and American depositary receipts (ADRs). He has since spent 13 years working as a senior trader in Tokyo for both Nomura and HSBC. 

BTIG hopes to have around a dozen professionals in Singapore within a short time, and Conway has been busy interviewing local candidates.

For the moment, BTIG covers only regional equities, including exchange-traded derivatives, but will eventually extend its capabilities to local bond markets, having launched a fixed-income operation in the US earlier this year.

BTIG LLC was set up in 2002 and now employs over 350 people worldwide. It deals with more than 1,200 institutional customers and offers services from five divisions: equities, fixed-income, prime brokerage, outsource trading and direct market access.