In an effort to enhance its equity business, Standard Chartered Bank has appointed veteran banker Simon Brookhouse as its global head of equities.
Brookhouse will be responsible for leading all aspects of Standard Chartered's growing equities initiatives. He will be based in Hong Kong and report to Lenny Feder, group head of financial markets at the bank.
"Simon's appointment reaffirms Standard Chartered's commitment to strengthening the equities business and serving the needs of our deep client base across Asia, Africa and the Middle East," Feder said in a statement. "He is a seasoned professional, with deep industry experience and will greatly assist us in the continued build out of our equities business," he added.
Brookhouse has more than 20 years of experience in the equity capital market. He was most recently based in London as chief executive officer of Execution Noble Group. Simon also held positions at HSBC, as global head of equities, and with Merrill Lynch as head of equities (Europe) and global head of equity-linked derivatives. Brookhouse has lived in Asia for a decade.
Last month, Standard Chartered hired Tom Welch from Deutsche Bank to head its cash equities sales.
Standard Chartered is headquartered in London and earns around 90% of its income from 70 markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. But the equity business has not been a forte of the bank. It was involved in 18 equity deals in Asia ex-Japan in 2009, helping to raise a total of $1.36 billion. That ranked it 23rd for bookrunners in the region during the year, according to data from Dealogic.
By comparison, the top ranked bookrunner, UBS, was on 59 deals with a combined size of $14.5 billion, while the number two-ranked bookrunner, Morgan Stanley, worked on 64 deals with a total deal value of $13.8 billion last year.
In the first half of 2010, Standard Chartered's ranking slid to 39th with the British bank working on seven deals valued at $597 million during the period. UBS is still reigning at the top of the list with $6.17 billion from 29 equity deals.
