Many are referring to it as the end of an era. The departure of Paul Kelly as ING's co-head of equity capital markets sees one of the region's most experienced equity professionals exiting the market.
Known as PK, Kelly has been with ING (or rather Barings) since 1990 and arrived in Hong Kong in 1994. In the ensuing years, few bankers have been more plugged in to what's happening in the primary equity markets. Married to this knowledge is a wit as dry as a Jacobs' cream cracker.
When not spinning deals, Kelly is to be found spinning the decks at Funky Times, a quarterly 1970's funk event he created with friends and is principal DJ of.
He now plans to spend six months enjoying himself. He started at Barings straight from Cambridge University and has never changed job, so unlike many bankers has not had any gardening leave or major breaks.
He plans to spend the coming months getting fit and playing tennis and generally doing the things he has always planned to do. Moreover, he and his wife are expecting twins at the end of next month, so life is sure to be far from dull.
In his new housefather role, Kelly will mix baby food in the kitchen while perfecting his DJ mixing in the room where he keeps his decks.
Meanwhile, the good ship ING will suffer no loss of continuity. His co-head, Craig Duffy remains, and they have run the business together since 2000.
