Citi expands CB sales and trading with new appointments

Citi is expanding its convertible bonds business in Asia with new appointments in sales and trading within its markets division, according to a release issued yesterday. The bank said it has named Paul J Andersson, better known as PJ, as pan-Asia head of equity derivative and convertible sales and promoted Nick Smith to head of pan-Asia convertible bonds, which is also a sales and trading position. Both roles are new.

Andersson, who is relocating from Citi in New York, will be responsible for the global distribution of all pan-Asia equity derivatives products, including convertible bonds (CBs). He will be based in Hong Kong and will report to Adrian Faure, head of equities for Asia-Pacific, as well as to David Ratliff, head of pan-Asia sales.

"[Andersson's] appointment further underlines our goal to be a top-tier equities player in the region. We see significant opportunities in the institutional flow derivative and convertible space and we look forward to PJ helping us to grow this business further," Faure said in a written comment.

In New York, Andersson was most recently head of institutional equity sales for the Americas and, before that, he ran the equity derivative sales desks in New York and Tokyo. He has also worked in equity derivative and convertible sales in London. He first joined Citi in Tokyo in 1998.

Smith will also be based in Hong Kong and will report to Andersson. In his new role, he will be supported by four new trading hires who have recently joined the bank: Kim Wong and Paul Wood in Hong Kong and Carol Marah and James Short in London. They will all be trading Asian CBs.

"Our convertible bond trading business has been very encouraging and we are now looking to build upon this," Faure said. "We believe that under [Smith's] leadership, and with these strong additions to our trading and sales efforts, that we can firmly establish Citi's dominant position in the pan-Asia convertible bond market."

Citi's markets division covers equity research, trading of cash equities and derivatives, as well as over-the-counter trading in 16 countries in Asia-Pacific.