HSBC hires IMF veteran as chief economist for India, Asean

HSBC has hired former International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Leif Eskesen as its chief economist for India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). According to a release, Eskesen will be responsible for macroeconomic research on India and Singapore and will also coordinate the bank’s economic research team covering the 10 Asean markets: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

He will be based in Singapore and will report locally to Amit Gupta, head of global markets for Singapore, and functionally to Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research. The appointment is effective immediately.

Eskesen has spent the past 10 years with the IMF, most recently as a senior economist responsible for macroeconomic and financial sector analysis and forecasting for individual countries and regions, including Asia. He was also engaged in and led discussions with government decision-makers on appropriate macroeconomic and structural policy priorities. Through the years, Eskesen has also published a number of papers, on topics including fiscal policy and labour market issues.

Countries that he has covered during this time include Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Austria, Croatia and his native Denmark.

In the release, Gupta noted that Eskesen has a strong understanding of Asian macroeconomic policy formulation and comprehensive knowledge of the international economic dynamics that affect it.

“As HSBC continues to expand its operations in India and the Asean countries, while cementing its position as the leading emerging markets bank in the region, [Eskesen] is a pivotal inclusion to our business and will provide insight for our global clients into international and domestic economic trends affecting Asian markets,” he said.

Prior to joining the IMF, Eskesen worked for Danmarks Nationalbank (the Danish central bank) and for Jyske Bank, the second largest independent bank in Denmark. He holds a masters degree in economics from the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

HSBC’s global research division, which is part of global banking and markets, has more than 500 staff in 20 countries. According to the release, it specialises in four core product areas – currency, economics, equities and fixed income – with a particular emphasis on emerging markets and climate change.