Credit Suisse hires long-time Nomura Staff

Credit Suisse AGCSGN.VX +1.63% said Thursday it has hired long-time Nomura Holdings Inc.8604.TO +0.68% hedge-fund executive Aditi Velakacharla to run a Hong Kong-based group at the bank that introduces its Asian hedge fund clients to potential investors.

The Swiss bank is a major player in the Asian hedge fund industry, currently ranked as the second-largest prime broker in the region by assets under management after Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to an annual survey by industry publication AsiaHedge. The bank’s prime-brokerage unit services roughly $21.5 billion of Asian hedge fund assets.

Ms. Velakacharla is a well-known figure in Hong Kong hedge fund circles, previously working as the regional head of capital introductions for Lehman Brothers and later Nomura when the Japanese bank acquired Lehman’s Asian arm in 2008. A spokesman for Nomura on Thursday declined to comment on her departure.

Asia has seen a flurry of new hedge fund launches this year as large overseas investors take an interest in the region’s better-performing hedge funds. At the end of the third quarter, hedge funds that bet on Asia excluding Japan were up 6.6% for the year versus a 5.3% gain for North American hedge funds, according to data provider Eurekahedge.

“2014 has been the most significant year for new hedge fund launches for a long time with many of them raising meaningful capital,” said Myo Schollum, Credit Suisse’s head of prime services coverage for Asia Pacific, in a statement Thursday.

Source: WSJ