Ranodeb Roy, the head of Morgan Stanley’s Asia-Pacific fixed income division, is quitting the bank and will be replaced by Stephen Glynn, according to an internal memo that FinanceAsia has seen.
Roy joined Morgan Stanley in March 2008, responsible for around 200 people across rates, foreign exchange, emerging markets, credit, structured credit and special situations. His responsibilities spanned Asia-Pacific, including offices in Hong Kong, China, India, Korea, Australia and Singapore.
Until 2007, Roy worked in Merrill Lynch across its Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo offices. At Merrill his last position was co-head of the fixed income, currency and commodities group in Asia. He started his career at Bank of America in Mumbai in 1992.
Roy is leaving for personal reasons and not to join the competition, said a source close to the situation. His departure coincides with a relocation of Roy and his family to Singapore.
“Ronnie’s experience and leadership helped the firm and fixed income in Asia-Pacific emerge successfully from the financial crisis while building significant business momentum across the region,” said the memo.
Indeed, Roy is responsible for a significant build-out of Morgan Stanley’s fixed income business. He has hired across platforms, increasing headcount by 35% in Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) during the past three years. The India fixed income business has grown from scratch under his watch, including winning a non-banking finance company licence from the Indian regulator in 2008 and getting a primary dealership licence in 2009. In China, Roy was involved in buying Hangzhou Trust in 2008 and establishing the Beijing branch of Morgan Stanley Bank International (China) in 2009. Roy is also credited with building out the China fixed-income sales and distribution team.
Glynn, who takes over with immediate effect, is global co-head of foreign exchange and emerging markets (FXEM), a charge he will continue to hold alongwith his fixed income remit. Glynn will also replace Roy on the Asia executive committee and Asia-Pacific executive committee. Until September last year, Glynn was head of FXEM trading for Asia, a role he relocated to Asia to do in 2008. He was then promoted to his current role, which gave him global responsibility.
Glynn began his career at Chase Manhattan in London before joining Morgan Stanley in 2000 to trade foreign exchange and short-end rates. Glynn has held a number of senior roles in Morgan Stanley including running the FX Forwards desk between 2004 and 2007 and heading FX trading in London.
Roy will be with Morgan Stanley until the end of August to ensure a smooth transition.
There is no specific catalyst for Roy’s decision, added a source. Unlike many investment banks, Morgan Stanley grew fixed-income revenues this year, albeit from a smaller base than some of its competitors. Roy is leaving after building the business to a sustainable level. However, the fixed income business itself is changing significantly under new regulations and as investment banks re-engineer themselves. A number of fixed income traders have left to pursue entrepreneurial ambitions and it is possible that this is Roy’s medium-term plan as well.
Outside work, he is involved in numerous philanthropic activities, including founding a non-governmental organisation called Utsarga Charity in Kolkata, which is active in the field of education, art and computer education.
