UBS has hired Ross Baildon from Credit Suisse to become its new head of equity syndicate for Asia. He replaces Sam Kendall who was promoted to head of Asia equity capital markets in early April.
Kendall kept his syndicate role after the promotion, but insiders said the intention was always to hire a new head of syndicate in due course. In Baildon, UBS has found a veteran banker with 20 years of experience in both ECM and equity sales and trading. He has been head of Credit Suisse’s equity syndicate desk for non-Japan Asia in Hong Kong since April 2010 when he took over from Simon Aird after Aird relocated to London.
In an internal memo, Kendall described him as having a “deep knowledge of the business and an understanding of the needs of investors”, and went on to say that he will “provide leadership, drive change and continue to grow revenues…both in the IPO and blocks business”.
Baildon, who is thought to have left Credit Suisse a couple of weeks ago, will start his new job on July 29 and will report to Kendall.
Baildon joined Credit Suisse in 1998 from BZW. He was initially head of the Sydney equity sales desk before assuming a role as head of Australia equity sales and trading in 2001. In 2004 he transferred to the equity capital markets team to become head of Australia and New Zealand syndicate, a role that he kept until he moved to Hong Kong early last year.
While in Asia he has worked on key ECM transactions, such as AIA’s $20.5 billion listing in Hong Kong, Indofood CBP’s $700 million Indonesia IPO, Hana Financial’s $1.28 billion follow-on in February this year, Renren’s $743 million IPO in the US earlier this month, which was viewed as a precursor to the eventual listing of Facebook, and the $2 billion IPO for Shanghai Pharmaceutical, which closed last Thursday.
Credit Suisse ranks fourth in overall ECM volumes in Asia ex-Japan this year with a 4.9% market share, up from seventh in 2010. UBS is retaining its second place from last year and currently has a market share of 5.5%.
The hire of Baildon will allow Kendall to focus on his new job as head of ECM, although he will continue to oversee both the equity origination and syndicate functions. He is also keeping his role as global head of blocks.
The addition also shows that Kendall is continuing to put his mark on the ECM team in the region. Three weeks ago, he transferred Stuart Mackay, previously head of ECM origination for Asia (ex-China), to Singapore to assume a new role as head of ECM for Southeast Asia, as part of an attempt to firm up the division’s structure and accountability.
At the same time, he also hired Catherine Vannavong from Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a director with responsibility for Hong Kong and Taiwan ECM, and transferred Yusun Chung to Hong Kong from Seoul to take responsibility for Korean ECM on a full-time basis. Chung initially joined UBS to cover debt capital markets for Korea and was later promoted to look after ECM as well.
Separately, sources say that John Sturmey has left UBS after stepping down from his role as co-head of global capital markets (GCM) in early April – at the same time as Kendall was promoted to head of ECM. UBS brought Sturmey back in mid-2010, after a couple of years with ABN Amro/Royal Bank of Scotland, specifically to take on this role together with Joseph Chee, so his early departure from the job came as a bit of a surprise. However, sources said at the time that the move should be seen in the context of UBS’s new global head of GCM, David Soanes, wanting to shape his own team across the different regions.
Chee was named the sole head of GCM for Asia, which includes both ECM and debt capital markets, while an internal memo issued in early April noted that a further announcement would be made in due course about Sturmey’s future role with the bank. However, according to sources, he has chosen, instead, to part ways with the Swiss bank for the second time in three years.
At Credit Suisse, former head of Asia syndicate Simon Aird and Asia ECM distribution head Joss Fisher will fill the gap left by Baildon on an interim basis. Aird is currently a senior managing director in the equity syndicate group focusing on Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in London, but will spend quite a lot of time on in Hong Kong while the firm is looking for a more permanent solution, according to a source.
