Bank of America Merrill Lynch has named Vikram Sahu as its head of Southern Asia equity research, a new position within the group as the US bank continues its expansion across Asia.
Sahu, who will be based in Singapore, moves from Goldman Sachs, where he was managing director and regional director of research for Asean and India, according to an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia.
In the new role, Sahu will manage the research team and direct research strategy for Asean and India at a time when the bank is adding to its regional research capabilities.
Sahu partly replaces Melvyn Boey, who covered the Asean region and joined Nomura last year. He will report to Steve Haggerty, head of Asia-Pacific research.
He joined Goldman Sachs in 1999 to cover the European pharmaceuticals sector in London and subsequently served as co-head for the European small and midcap team. He also founded and ran Goldman Sachs’ Indian research team in Mumbai.
Sahu began his research career in 1995 as an analyst with Credit Suisse in London. Before that, he worked for the United Nations in New York and Maastricht, spending two years at the organisation.
He received a BA from St Stephen’s college and was awarded full scholarships for his MA at Northern Illinois University and a PhD program at Manchester University.
As part of the reshuffle, Chin Seng Tay is named deputy head of Asean equity research, and will remain in Singapore. Chin joined BofA Merrill in 2010 from Macquarie Securities.
Meanwhile, Jyoti Jaipuria will continue in his role as head of India equity research and India equity strategist and will remain in Mumbai. Jaipuria joined BofA Merrill in 1994 after working at ICICI for seven years.
Both will report to Sahu.
The moves continue the bank’s expansion in the region; with Ajay Kapur named chief strategist, Asia-Pacific, and Sonia Song appointed Asia-Pacific head of energy research - both in 2013.
