Barclays Capital has hired Tom Quarmby and Jon Windham from Macquarie Securities as it continues to expand its Asia equity research business, launched in Hong Kong earlier this month.
Quarmby was previously head of banks research at Macquarie in Australia where he was a top-ranked analyst, but quit in June this year. He joins Barclays as head of regional banks for Asia ex-Japan, a position he also held at Deutsche Bank until 2007. He has also covered Taiwan bank stocks and speaks Mandarin, according to a press release issued by Barclays Capital. RBS’s Michael Wiblin replaces him in Sydney.
Windham joins from Macquarie in Hong Kong where he was head of industrials for Asia ex-Japan. He will continue to cover the same sector at Barclays.
“With the addition of a top-flight equity research team in Hong Kong, we are developing a comprehensive Asian research platform,” Robert Morrice, Asia chief executive at Barclays, the commercial banking parent of Barclays Capital, said in early September when the bank announced the launch of its equity research business in Asia. “Our clients now have access to a broad range of equity products alongside our expertise in strategic advisory, financing and risk management.”
The bank has been building its equity research product in earnest since February when it hired Stephen O’Sullivan to head the business. Sullivan too was hired from Macquarie and, like Quarmby, he joined the Australian bank from Deutsche Bank in 2007 when the silver doughnut had enjoyed 15 years of record profits and was the darling of the financial markets. Times have changed. Earlier this month, Macquarie Group warned that first-half profit would fall 25% and said that it was difficult to predict how its earnings would fare in the short term.
Barclays Capital officially launched its Asia research product on September 1 when it unveiled six new research heads who will cover technology hardware, semiconductors, insurance, property, consumer and Chinese banks.
