James Shipton, director at Eurekahedge's Singapore-based hedge fund consultancy business is leaving to join hedge fund prime broker, Goldman Sachs.
Sam Stubbs, Goldman's head of prime broking in Asia says Shipton will relocate to Hong Kong next month to take on the role of consultant to Goldman's existing and potential Asian hedge fund clients. This is the first time Goldman will have a full time consultant dedicated to Asian hedge funds.
"We've had a part time consultant for Asian-focused clients before, but as the industry expands, we feel we need to raise the bar in terms of the value-added services we offer our clients," says Stubbs. "This is a great hire for us. The feedback from our clients who have worked with James before has been unanimously positive. His Asian hedge fund experience at Eurkeahedge and background as a lawyer make him well qualified for this role."
Stubbs says that in his new role, Shipton will advise clients on fund structuring, regulatory, licensing and other issues related to establishing and running a hedge fund businesses.
Shipton has spent the last two years running Eurekahedge's funds' consultancy business. Prior to that he worked as an investment banker with Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London and Hong Kong. Before this he practiced securities law with Linklaters in Hong Kong and Thailand.
As a result of his move to Goldman, Shipton is also stepping down from his role as managing director of ComplianceAsia, a consultancy specialising in financial compliance in Asia Pacific, which he co-founded with Philippa Allen in 2003.
Commenting on the departure, Allen says, "We have expanded recently and taken on more staff to cover our expansion as well as James departure."
Richard Armstrong, managing director at Asia's homegrown hedge fund consultancy Eurekahedge says, "We're obviously very sad to see James leave and wish him every success in his new role. We will continue to focus on our core businesses of international publishing and capital introduction."
Industry participants do not expect Eureka to hire a replacement for Shipton, noting that the firm's consulting business was not a major contributor to its bottom line. Rather, they expect Eureka will continue to provide Shipton's consulting function through its existing in-house team.
