Scott Wilson, who begins soon as head of credit research, and Dong-Hyun Ahn, who has joined the bank as head of quantitative strategy, will work together with RBS' other recent hires in local market rates and economics.
John Richards, head of strategy and research for Asia-Pacific, says: ôWith these appointments, RBS has taken an important step towards building a strong research team in the Asia-Pacific region.ö
Wilson, formerly from UBS where he was head of credit research, will be based in Singapore leading a team of three analysts. His responsibilities within credit research include sovereigns, financial institutions and corporates. Wilson brings 10 years of experience covering Asian credits, during which time Institutional Investor and FinanceAsia magazines ranked him top analyst.
Ahn, for his part, joined the bank earlier this year from academia. He worked most recently as associate professor of finance at the University of North Carolina and Seoul National University. He sports a PhD in finance from New York University and has published several papers on yield-curve modelling. Ahn has also been a board member of Korea's government pension plan and has acted as an advisor to a number of government entities on regulatory and financial issues.
Both Wilson and Ahn will report to John Richards.
The announcements come after RBS created a debt capital markets group in Asia in June, co-headed by Paul McWilliam and John Wade. Since then, several new appointments have been made, including: Masahiro Ohshiro, who is heading JapanÆs DCM team; and Alex Vergus who joined RBS to focus on JapanÆs DCM activities. Vergus will report to Ohshiro.
Meanwhile, Neil Arrowsmith transferred from Hong Kong to Singapore to join the debt markets group and will report to McWilliam.
The string of appointments may signal RBS' debut as a more notable player in the Asian primary bond markets. According to sources, a strengthening of the credit research team is often the first step towards a more prominent role in the regionÆs G3 sector.
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