Citi hires Ted Huang for Asia-Pacific commodities team

Citi has hired Ted Huang as a director in commodities marketing and origination for Asia, according to sources. 

This is a new position in the bank's Asia commodities team and underlines Citi's continued investment in its regional commodities franchise. And, as Citi bankers are keen to point out, it also underscores the fact that the US bank can woo from the competition. 

Huang joins from J.P. Morgan in Singapore, where he was a key member in the firm's energy marketing team. At Citi, Huang will be responsible for driving the future growth of the energy derivatives business in Asia-Pacific, focusing on commodities marketing and origination from Northeast Asia, in particular, to clients across Asia. Huang has worked in commodities markets for more than 10 years and before J.P. Morgan worked in commodities derivatives sales at Barclays Capital Singapore. He will continue to be based in Singapore.

"This important hire underlines our commitment to our clients to invest in our franchise. Ted has excellent client relationships and we look forward to Ted playing a leading role in the further growth of our Asia-Pacific commodities business," said Ananth Doraswamy, head of Asia-Pacific commodities for Citi.

Citi's commodities business is one of the fastest growing areas within the bank's Asia-Pacific global markets business. In the past four years, the commodities team has grown from three to more than 20 people. The team offers clients the full spectrum of products and solutions in the commodities arena, including energy (oil and oil products), precious and base metals, agricultural products, coal, freight and emissions. 

Other recent hires at Citi include Charles Leung, who joined from Nomura to sell retail structured products to private banks in Asia, and Jason Johnson, who moved from Credit Suisse to head Citi's natural resources global banking coverage in Asia. Both were announced earlier this month. In early May, Citi appointed former Credit Suisse Group veteran Philip Lewis as head of financial institutions for Australia and New Zealand.