Barclays Capital has continued to expand its Asia equities franchise this year, and earlier this week formally announced the appointment of senior staff in its Korea operation.
Of the nine key hires, eight are from Deutsche Bank’s cash equities business, and so is one of the four more junior appointments. Throughout the summer, media have reported the moves largely based on headhunter leaks, but this is the first formal confirmation from the bank itself.
Barclays Capital told FinanceAsia last year that it was on a hiring drive in Asia as it aims to increase its revenues in the region by up to three times the 2010 levels by 2012. The main focus is to expand the bank's equities business to complement an already strong presence in fixed income, commodities and foreign exchange. Its major regional equity hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo are well-established, and this year it has opened equities operations in Mumbai and Taipei.
Establishing an equities presence in Seoul, where it already has a fixed-income and investment banking presence, was a logical step for the UK-based investment bank. It is now a member of the Korean stock exchange, which allows it to operate brokerage, trading and clearing businesses, and it has a securities licence issued by the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
“We are on track with our stated 2011 aim to build out equities businesses in Taiwan, India and Korea alongside our existing hubs in Hong Kong and Japan,” said Mike Di Iorio, head of equities for Asia-Pacific, in a statement on Wednesday.
The appointments include three managing directors, and encompass sales, trading and equity research. The new hires all took up their positions this month.
John Chang has joined as a managing director and head of equities for Korea, reporting to Di Iorio. He was previously head of GME (equity division) at Deutsche Securities Korea, and before that held a variety of jobs at SG Securities and HSBC Securities.
Jiyoung Chung has been hired as a managing director and head of generalist equities sales for Korea and reports to Anthony Davies, head of generalist equities sales for Asia-Pacific. She was previously head of equities sales at Deutsche Securities Korea, where her team was ranked joint-first for Korea equity sales in the 2010 Greenwich Survey. She has also worked at ICG Commerce, McKinsey & Co and Boram Bank.
The third managing director is Chanik Park, who heads up Korean equity research. He reports to Stephen O’Sullivan, head of Asia ex-Japan equity research, and leads a team initially made up of two other new hires: Seung-Chul Bae, a director and head of technology sector research, and Sun Mok Ha, also a director and head of financial services sector research.
Park was previously head of Korea equity research at Deutsche, and has earlier also worked at Morgan Stanley, Unifund SA, HSBC Asset Management and Korea Asia Fund. His Deutsche team was ranked first for Korea equity research in the 2009 and 2010 Greenwich surveys.
Bae also comes from Deutsche where he focused on semiconductor and downstream technology research, and earlier in his career worked at Samsung Securities and Daewoo Securities. Ha stands out from his fellow appointees because he joined from Credit Suisse, not Deutsche. Before a 10-year stint at the Swiss bank, he held a variety of positions at Korea's Financial Supervisory Commission and Korea Long Term Credit Bank.
The other former Deutsche employees include Samuel Gong who has joined as a director and head of equities sales trading for Korea and reports to Jeremy Norris, head of equities sales trading for Asia ex-Japan. The rest are directors in the generalist equities sales division.
Myung Seop Kho has responsibility for running the sales team dedicated to domestic Korean accounts, and reports to Anthony Davies, head of generalist equities sales for Asia-Pacific. Ted Kim has joined as a senior member of Kho’s team and, finally, John Lee has been hired as a senior member of the generalist equities sales team covering Korean offshore accounts. He reports to Chung.
Commenting on the appointments, Di Iorio said: “[Chang] and the team are exceptionally well regarded in the market and bringing them on represents a valuable addition to our client offering in Korea and the wider Asia-Pacific region.”
Meanwhile, Deutsche has already replaced most of the departures, which were from the cash rather than the derivatives side of the securities business, and will soon announce its fresh hires, according to sources.
Deutsche Bank’s Korean business has had its problems this year. After a two-month investigation, the FSC decided that on November 11, 2010, employees at Deutsche Bank’s Hong Kong and New York offices conspired with Deutsche Securities Korea (DSK) to manipulate market prices in the Korean capital markets.
The Frankfurt-based lender was slapped with a six-month ban on trading derivatives on its own account as well as a record fine.
