HSBC has again moved to shore up its equities business in Asia by appointing eight senior executives, after a spate of similar hires by the UK-based bank this year.
Dok Chon has joined as head of equity sales trading for Korea, Justin Abbiss has been appointed as a senior equities sales trader, based in Hong Kong, Kent Chen has joined as head of equity sales trading for Taiwan, and Danny Holder has been appointed head of dealing, equities, based in Hong Kong.
Altogether this year HSBC has appointed 20 new people to its equities business in Asia-Pacific, matching other banks by bulking up even as some investors fret over the potential tapering of the US monetary stimulus.
Nomura, Standard Chartered and JPMorgan have this year all hired executives for their Asian equities operations.
For HSBC, the new hires come at a time when its business across the region is improving. According to Dealogic, HSBC is top among bookrunners in Hong Kong equity capital markets, having been outside the top 10 in 2009. It is also top for new listings in the city.
Globally, equities revenue hit US$531m in the first half of 2013, a 34% year-on-year increase and a 88% jump from the second half of 2012.
“We are on the front foot in Asia and hope to make further gains in market share,” Rakesh Patel, head of cash equities for Asia-Pacific, told FinanceAsia. “This year is all about improving the quality of our team.”
Chon has 15 years experience in the industry and was previously at Goldman Sachs as a senior sales trader, and has also worked at JPMorgan. Abbiss was formerly at Credit Suisse as a sales trader and has 20 years of experience, Chen worked previously at CLSA as head of sales trading for Taiwan, and Holder was previously a managing director at Oppenheimer Investments.
HSBC's other appointments include Aalind Jindal, who joins as a director in US Asian equities sales, and will be based in New York. Simmy Lee has been appointed as a director in corporate access, based in Hong Kong, Quentin Limouzi joins as a director in customised electronic services Asia-Pacific, based in Hong Kong, and Fiona Wong becomes a director in equity sales for Hong Kong and China, based in Hong Kong.
And it appears HSBC is not finished.
"We will consider further investment next year. Prime finance is a strategic priority for us. We are ranked number eight right now but we want to reach number six in next year’s AsiaHedge survey,” Patel said.
