By Brian Kelleher and Jeffrey Hodgson
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Switzerland's UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which more than doubled the amount of assets serviced by its Asian prime brokerage business last year, expects that figure to grow at 50 percent annually going forward.
Global investment banks, led by Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), are competing fiercely for a share of Asia's rapidly growing hedge fund market, which has now exceeded $140 billion in assets under management, according to industry research group Eurekahedge.
UBS is bulking up its prime brokerage offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney after its assets under management held by its hedge fund clients grew 108 percent in 2006, its regional chief said.
"We should be comfortable seeing a 50 percent growth in our business every year," David Gray, head of the bank's Asia Pacific prime brokerage told the Reuters Hedge Funds and Private Equity Summit in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
Gray declined to disclose the division's current assets under management, but he plans to grow the team of roughly 65 people rapidly to keep up with the growth of UBS clients.
"We'll tend to see growth of 10 per year just to keep up with capacity," he said. "The market's growing at 35 to 40 percent per annum. If your business isn't growing that fast, you're not even keeping up."
Asian hedge funds have focused on China, India, and also opportunities in more developed capital markets like Japan and Australia. Some analysts have estimated global hedge fund assets have risen to more than $2 trillion.
GLOBAL PLAYERS Continued...
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.
| Global Environment | Oct 06 - 8, 2008 | Energy |
| Autos II | Sep 30 - Oct 01, 2008 | Hotels/Casinos |
| Restructuring | Sep 22 - 26, 2008 | Financial Services/Exchanges |
| Autos | Sep 15 - 17, 2008 | Autos |
| Russia Investment | Sep 08 - 9, 2008 | Country Summits |
