J.P. Morgan strengthens equity derivatives

J.P Morgan has raided two of its US rivals to strengthen its Asia equity business. From Goldman Sachs, it has hired Kazuma Naito as Asia head of sales and marketing for the bank’s equity derivatives group, as well as hiring Ken Kishimoto as head of Japan equity trading from Morgan Stanley.

Based in Hong Kong, Naito will have responsibility for both sales to derivatives investors and structured product marketing in Asia. In what the bank described as a new position, he will report jointly to Mark Justh, head of equities distribution for Asia-Pacific, and William Lee, head of the Asia-Pacific equity derivatives group.

“We are accelerating our business expansion to increase our market share and to capture the tremendous growth potential in the region,” said Lee. “These new hires demonstrate the firm’s strong commitment to the business, further differentiating us as a top-tier franchise in the region.”

Naito has worked at Goldman Sachs for 15 years in Hong Kong, London and Tokyo, and was most recently managing director responsible for its pan-Asian ex-Japan equity derivative sales. Before moving to Hong Kong, he was based in London responsible for Goldman’s pan-European and pan-Asian equity derivative sales to European and US-based hedge fund and institutional clients.

In Tokyo, Kishimoto has joined J.P. Morgan to manage both cash equities and equity derivatives trading platforms. He will be based in Tokyo and will report to Lee and locally to Michael Green, head of Japan equities and Asia electronic trading solutions.

At Morgan Stanley, Kishimoto was responsible for managing Tokyo equity derivative products, including trading, sales and structuring. He also held various equity derivatives trading roles at Goldman in both Tokyo and New York. Before that he worked at Citadel Investment Group in Chicago.

Naito and Kishimoto both started in early June 2011 and are members of the bank’s Asia-Pacific equity derivatives group management committee.