Vontobel Investment Banking has boosted its presence in the Asia-Pacific region with the appointment of Long Lee (pictured) as head financial products Asia in a move to establish its presence in the Apac market and push for further growth.
Lee, who previously served as CEO of Leonteq Securities Hong Kong, will take over the management of Vontobel Financial Products Asia on February 5, 2018. He will be responsible for Vontobel's entire structured products business in Asia Pacific with a focus on Hong Kong and Singapore. Lee will be based in Hong Kong, and lead the two teams in Hong Kong and Singapore that have a total of around 20 employees.
As CEO and a member of the executive committee of Leonteq Securities Hong Kong, Lee managed several sales teams that advise institutional investors, private banks, family offices and financial intermediaries in Greater China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. He began his career in 2000 as trader in Hong Kong at Bank of China International and BBVA, among other institutions. In mid-2010, Lee joined Leonteq Securities Hong Kong, where he held several positions including head of trading Asia before being appointed CEO in 2014.
In his new role as head of financial products Asia, Long Lee will manage sales activities in Singapore as well as trading activities in Hong Kong. Roger Studer, head of Vontobel Investment Banking, said Lee has been charged with expanding the bank's market position in Asia 'in order to become one of the leading providers of structured products'.
Vontobel Financial Products has a presence in Asia with sales activities in Singapore and trading activities in Hong Kong. The distribution of Vontobel's structured products is done via channels including the bank's Deritrade multi-issuer platform (MIP). Vontobel entered the Asian structured products market via the warrants and Callable Bull Bear Contracts (CBBCs) segment of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2017.
After just two months, the structured products business in Hong Kong was already generating a positive profit contribution. According to the bank, the Hong Kong market for listed structured products is 'achieving continued growth and is attracting strong demand from investors'. Over the next 12 months, 300 to 400 warrants and callable bull bear contracts (CBBCs) will be launched, covering all common underlyings, stated the bank.
In a further development, the product range is to be expanded to include products on foreign equities, commodities, currencies and other structured products.
The Swiss bank has invested heavily in its Asia-Pacific expansion since it rolled out its Deritrade MIP in Singapore in 2014. As part of its Asia Pacific expansion which was first unveiled in 2012 by Georg von Wattenwyl, global head of financial products advisory & distribution at Vontobel.
The Swiss bank entered into a strategic agreement in February with Bank of Singapore through which clients of the Singaporean private banks will be able to book their assets in Switzerland and have access to Vontobel's range of wealth management European financial products and services, including the bank's structured products Deritrade platform, as well as Deritrade SmartGuide, the bank's B2B4C offering which combines wealth planning advisory services, pricing, structuring/engineering and trading functions.
The Swiss bank was the most active European issuer - with 11,472 products in 2017 - and topped the sales volume ranking with €8.8bn volume sold during the course of the year, according to SRP data. Vontobel reported that its financial products business has secured a leading position with a market share of 25% in its home market and of over 10% in Europe (measured in terms of the exchange-traded volumes).
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