Source : The Business Times, September 20, 2007
DEUTSCHE Bank said yesterday that it has opened two desks in Singapore to provide prime brokerage and financing services to hedge funds, joining a list of global banks attracted by the city-state's fast-growing hedge fund industry.
The two desks - global prime finance and hedge fund capital introduction group - are aimed at expanding hedge fund coverage in Singapore, a bank official said.
Deutsche said the hedge fund capital introduction group, which matches hedge funds with investors that have interest in alternative investments, would be headed by Ferrel Daste. Nilesh Navlakha will head hedge fund equity sales in Singapore.
The global prime finance group will be headed by Scott Basili, who will be assisted by Anusha Varma.
'The increasingly diverse and complex needs of our growing Singapore client base demand the services of a local, specialist client service team,' Denis MacCarthy, co-head of Asian equity sales at Deutsche Bank, said in a statement.
Deutsche joined competitors Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch which earlier this year set up their prime brokerage offices in Singapore.
The number of hedge funds in Singapore rose 76 per cent to 190 in 2006, while assets managed by these funds rose 150 per cent to US$26 billion, according to central bank data.
Hedge funds in Singapore - which included several billion-dollar startups such as Broad Peak Investment Management and global players such as Tudor - have been attracted by its low taxes, flexible regulation and a vast pool of money managed by the the state-backed investment firms Temasek Holdings and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.
Deutsche has moved bankers from New York and Hong Kong to start the new desks.
Fullerton Fund Management, a unit of Temasek, said earlier this month it is preparing a new hedge fund as investors remain keen on alternative investments despite financial market turbulence. -- Reuters
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