UBS has appointed Yankun Hou as the Asia-Pacific head of its global industrials group in its investment banking unit.
The move, effective from the beginning of March, was announced in an internal company statement seen by FinanceAsia on Thursday.
Hou, who rejoined UBS in October 2011, made his name as an analyst covering the Chinese auto, auto parts, and dealership sectors and was most recently UBS’s chief China strategist and head of China research.
UBS said it will make further announcements about filling these positions in due course but that in the interim Ting Gao will lead its China equity strategy product. Martin Yule and Erica Poon Werkun will also step in to cover Hou’s management responsibilities.
A Hong Kong-based spokesman said the appointment would have no impact on UBS's existing regional strategy.
“We believe that Yankun is uniquely positioned to help drive this opportunity, underpinned by his strong client relationships and wealth of industry knowledge across different global industrials group verticals,” David Chin, UBS’s head of corporate client solutions (CCS) for Asia Pacific and Damien Horth, its head of Asia Pacific research, wrote in the memo.
“Expanding as well as further integrating our global industrials group coverage across Asia Pacific is a focus for CCS in 2018.” they added.
CCS is the investment banking arm of UBS, providing deal advisory as well as equity and debt underwriting to its clients.
Hou previously worked at Lehman Brothers and Nomura for five years, covering China autos and industrials. Before changing careers and signing on with UBS in 2005, he worked as a research scientist at the medical school of Yale University in Connecticut.
