Citi has made a series of hires across its convertible bond (CB) franchise in Asia-Pacific to support further growth as client volumes and flows in this area continue to increase. The bank says these client sales and trading roles will help further expand Citi’s presence in the region.
PJ Andersson joined the bank in the newly created role of global head of pan-Asian derivative and convertible sales, based in Hong Kong. He will be responsible for the distribution of all Asia-Pacific equity derivative products including CBs. Andersson moved from the US where he was head of institutional equity sales in the Americas for Citi.
Also joining the CB team from Mizuho Hong Kong are Kim Wong and Paul Wood as directors on the CB sales and trading desk. These hires take Citi's dedicated convertible sales and trading team in Asia-Pacific to seven people.
“We are seeing an increase in flows across our convertibles desk and this area is a priority for Citi in Asia-Pacific for investment in key talent,” said Adrian Faure, head of equities for Citi in Asia-Pacific.
Outside the region, Citi has also added Carol Marah as a director and James Short as a vice-president on the London Asian Convertibles desk to further support clients outside the Asian time zone who are increasingly investing in Asian CBs. Marah joined from Morgan Stanley in London and Short joined from Nomura.
Citi is a leading underwriter of primary CBs, arranging over $20 billion of CB issuance in Asia in the last five years according to data from Dealogic. This included last week's $500 million zero-coupon dual tranche offering for Acer Inc, that Citi was joint books on. The deal is credited with re-opening the Taiwan CB market.
