Macquarie appoints new head of China research

Macquarie Securities has further increased its Asia equity research team by hiring Michael Kurtz for the role of head of China research and China strategist. This appointment is the latest in a long string of hires that the bank has undertaken since Stephen O'Sullivan became the Asia head of equity research in the middle of last year. O'Sullivan has overseen an expansion of the bank's Asia research team that has increased the headcount to 238 people from 211.

Kurtz, a fluent Mandarin speaker, joins the bank from Bear Stearns, where he worked for seven years as the head of Asia strategy and head of research. Before that he was an Asia foreign exchange strategist at IDEAglobal and a greater China analyst for Polyconomics. He has an MBA and Master of Arts from George Washington University.

Kurtz replaces Jake Lynch, a long-term resident of Shanghai, who will remain in the city focusing on Asian small- and mid-cap companies.

Macquarie has made a number of hires recently, including Mohan Singh who also came from Bear Stearns after that bank was acquired by J.P. Morgan in a rescue operation earlier this year. Singh joined as the head of regional consumer research. Mark Kellock, previously with Deutsche Bank, has joined as co-head of regional insurance research based in Hong Kong. He will work with Seshadri Sen in Mumbai. Since July, the bank has made six other hires for its equity research division.