Working in Asia
One thing I liked in my previous
regional role was the opportunity to
be involved in different asset classes.
I enjoyed my responsibility in Asia
because the markets are so varied across
jurisdictions with different ways of
trading, several ways of sourcing block
liquidity and the different network of
brokers you had to build up in each
area. From a lifestyle perspective, the
trading community is very close-knit
in Singapore across both buy side and
sell side. There was a lot of interaction
between everyone as the community
was relatively small and there was
an opportunity to meet up regularly
and discuss the hot topics. I certainly
enjoyed the closeness of the industry in
Singapore.
Working in a regional responsibility
out of Asia, one may easily dismiss
regulatory obligations in other parts
of the globe singling them out as not
being relevant, but ultimately they
affect everyone to some degree. There
is definitely a need to stay involved
and informed about the relevance and
impact at an early stage, particularly as
part of a global firm which generally
looks to adopt the highest standard of
regulation across the globe.
Given Asia is fragmented and
multifaceted, one challenge I
encountered early on was the need to
build so many relationships across the
region. A global bulge bracket bank
could potentially have 10 – 12 points
of contact; one in each country, one
electronic contact, one for program
trades and one ECM person. It was hard
to manage as it takes time to build
up all of these relationships. Where
possible we worked on streamlining
relationships, while not attempting
to achieve one-stop-shops, but rather
having single points of contact per
region covering South East Asia, North
Asia, etc. This was a more practical
solution though still not as easy to
implement as it may sound. The added
value, knowledge and expertise of local
broker relationships in specific areas can
sometimes be justified if you are active
in that area.
Another interesting area is Execution
Management Systems (EMS), which
can enable aggregation of orders from
multiple Order Management Systems
(OMS), help in the implementation of
new concepts such as algo-wheels and
provide access to algorithmic tools
from multiple vendors. An EMS solution
could potentially benefit traders across
all asset