Deutsche poaches head of equity derivatives trading from Citi

Deutsche Bank has hired Kenneth Hon as head of equity derivatives trading for Asia ex-Japan, a business area where the bank is viewed as one of the leading players in Asia. That said, Deutsche is aiming to grow its existing platform further, both with regard to product and market reach.

Hon will join on April 28 from Citi where he had the exact same role. At Deutsche Bank he will report regionally to Phillip Lonergan, head of equity trading and risk for Asia ex-Japan, and globally to Roger Naylor, the bank's global head of equity derivatives. He will be based in Hong Kong and will assume the level of managing director.

Hon is replacing Murray Roos, who has moved back to London to take up a new job as Deutsche Bank's head of equities for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In a comment to the hire, Lonergan pointed to Hon's "proficiency across the full spectrum of synthetic trading, structuring and complex modelling" and said this makes him a "fantastic addition" to the bank's equity derivatives business in Asia and ideally suited to lead the growth of the derivatives trading platform.

Deutsche Bank ranked number one in overall trading and sales capability for equity derivatives in Asia, according to the Greenwich Associates survey of Asian equity investors in 2009 -- a survey that is based on qualitative and subjective feedback from investors, as opposed to quantitative measures such as trading volumes or market share.

Hon began his career at UBS in Hong Kong where he structured and traded credit and interest rate derivative products. He then moved to Nikko Citigroup to trade Japanese equity derivatives, including vanilla options and structured products, while also developing algorithmic trading strategies. In his most recent role at Citi, he was responsible for managing the equity derivatives trading team in Asia, which included structured products and exotics trading, market-making and risk trading of equity derivatives, and arbitrage activities.