UBS appoints joint heads of China investment banking

UBS has appointed Wei Cai and Zhao Ju joint heads of China investment banking to fill the vacancy that was created when the former head, Henry Cai, resigned in late June. Wei Cai is joining from Morgan Stanley where he was head of the Asia-Pacific industrials and transportation group, while Zhao is taking on the new role alongside his current positions as head of UBS Securities, the bank’s capital markets franchise in China, and chairman of China investment banking.

Cai, who focused specifically on China while at Morgan Stanley, will also become vice chairman of Asia investment banking and will lead UBS Securities together with Zhao as the bank seeks to achieve greater coordination and integration between its international and domestic China business. He will be based in Hong Kong and will report to David Chin and Matthew Hanning, who are joint heads of investment banking for Asia. A source said Cai is expected to start sometime in September.

Since he joined Morgan Stanley in 2006, Cai has executed numerous M&A and ECM transactions for Chinese firms, including Tianjin Port, Guangzhou Auto, GCL-Poly Energy, Fosun and US-listed AirMedia, LDK Solar and Hanting Inns and Hotels, all according to an internal memo to UBS staff. Before joining Morgan Stanley, he worked at Merrill Lynch.

Meanwhile, Zhao was instrumental in the establishment of UBS Securities in 2005 and has been head of the Chinese securities arm ever since. In this position he has been involved in several landmark deals in China’s domestic market, most recently the $4.8 billion A- and H-share rights issue for Bank of Communications and the $597 million A-share IPO for military uniform and boot manufacturer Jihua Group. Zhao succeeded Henry Cai as chairman of China investment banking when Cai was promoted to chairman of Asia investment banking last year, alongside his role as head of China investment banking.

The job as chairman of Asia investment banking remains vacant for now.

In the internal memo Chin and Hanning noted that UBS ranked top in the league tables for China ECM in the first half of the year in terms of number of deals, and second by volume, and added that the bank is maintaining “strong momentum going into the second half with a robust pipeline of capital raising mandates”.

Henry Cai had been with UBS since March 2006 when he was hired from BNP Paribas. He left to join his former boss Robert Rankin at Deutsche Bank where he will assume a dual role as chairman of corporate finance for Asia and head of the corporate and investment bank (CIB) in China. He is due to start at Deutsche Bank on October 4.

Rankin used to be head of investment banking for Asia-Pacific at UBS, but left in March 2009 and is now CEO for Asia-Pacific at Deutsche.

Morgan Stanley hasn’t yet appointed a new head of the industrials and transportation group to replace Cai.