Renaissance Capital bolsters Hong Kong team

Emerging markets investment bank Renaissance Capital announced yesterday that it has appointed Ed Mason to the newly created position of head of the Asia equity product group. He will remain based in Hong Kong and oversee the integration of the firm’s Asia sales and trading operations.

Mason joined Renaissance Capital last year as head of international sales, a position he will retain. The firm only just opened its Hong Kong office in June 2010 to sell global emerging markets securities to the Asian institutional investor base. It gained name-recognition in the region when it acted as a joint bookrunner on Russian aluminium producer Rusal’s $2.24 billion Hong Kong IPO in January last year.

“Since his arrival at Renaissance in 2010, Ed has made a significant impact in opening up the Asian account base and driving strong participation from Asia in global offerings,” said Jeremy Sparrow, Renaissance Capital’s Asia CEO. “With his many years of experience spanning sales trading, sales and derivatives, Ed will ensure a world class equity offering to our clients.”

Expect to see more of these announcements, as Renaissance Capital has been on a hiring spree. In May it started building its Asia research team, hiring three Hong Kong-based analysts with significant resources industry experience. In April, we reported that Renaissance Capital had appointed former Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch banker Sheldon Trainor as chairman of its Asia business. In March, the boutique investment bank opened an office in Beijing.

Founded in Moscow, the boutique positions itself as a leading investment bank focused on the emerging markets of Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, better known as CIS, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa — and, in addition to Hong Kong and Beijing, it has offices in London and New York. At a conference it hosted in Moscow last week, it showcased much of its research, which has a CLSA-feel to it, easy-to-read, well-written reports that go beyond just stock picking, which is sure to help the firm gain traction in Asia.