Hedge Fund Intelligence HFI Hong Kong Report April 2014 | Seite 10

HONG KONG 2014

KEY FACTS

STRETCHED HUMAN RESOURCES

Asian hedge fund assets,
Dec-2013: by manager location

Hong Kong
Australia
Singapore
USA

UK
China
Japan
Other

Asian hedge fund assets by location of manager: US$ billion
Country
2008
2009

Jun# Dec# Jun Dec
UK
22.69 17.30 10.29 11.86
USA
40.37 27.39 24.76 26.75
Australia 37.41 27.05 24.57 29.32
Japan
12.53 8.52 9.77 10.18
Hong Kong 33.46 22.18 27.42 31.12
China
1.03 0.62 0.62 0.47
Singapore 24.33 15.93 17.03 17.64
Other
3.71 3.44 4.30 5.14
Total
175.53 122.43 118.75 132.48
Source: AsiaHedge # adjusted

10 Special Report March 2014

2010
2011
2012
2013
Jun Dec Jun Dec Jun Dec Jun Dec
11.16 12.31 11.69 8.91 9.72 6.88 9.82 11.50
29.10 27.88 24.01 22.16 22.22 21.61 22.18 21.28
29.70 33.16 31.53 28.30 28.3 27.75 28.92 29.38
10.34 11.03 10.77 9.73 5.72 4.73 3.97 4.20
32.51 38.28 38.89 40.53 47.05 45.04 50.39 54.21
3.44 3.80 3.58 5.77 6.82 8.18 8.77 8.48
16.71 21.55 19.54 20.91 20.07 20.34 24.85 25.16
4.79 4.39 4.64 4.32 4.49 4.56 3.94 4.59
137.75 152.39 144.65 140.62 144.39 139.08 152.84 158.79

© HedgeFund Intelligence

The resilience of Hong Kong’s hedge fund industry
is especially impressive given the number of challenges that continue to weigh on its growth. One of
these is a shortage of human resources.
“A lot of people tell me that it is difficult to hire
good people, especially at the back and middleoffice level, which is perceived to be the less
glamorous end of the business,” says Tony Freeman.
Freeman is executive director: industry relations of
Omgeo, a specialist provider of automated solutions for post-trade operations, which is a wholly Harold Yoon, CIO, SAIL
owned subsidiary of the Depository Trust >> Last year we achieved
& Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
very good balance
There is also a lack of experience at the most
between China and
senior ‘C-suite’ level. “At the top echelon of management the talent pool is not particularly deep,” Japan managers >>
says McNicholas at State Street. “If there is a shortage of people, it tends to be at the CFO, COO and
chief compliance officer level.”
This may be surprising given the depth, pedigree and sophistication of the
financial services industry in Hong Kong. It is less so, however, given the
relative immaturity of the Asian alternative investment management. According to Preqin, Asia-Pacific hedge funds represent less than 4% of the total
capital invested in the industry worldwide.
“There is a limited pool of high-quality talent in Asia, which is a function of
the lifecycle and emerging nature of the industry where there aren’t as many
second or third-generation hedge fund managers providing a deep bench of
talent to draw upon,” says Credit Suisse’s Pradeep. That, she says, means that
managers need to adopt an imaginative approach to recruitment of staff at the
front and back-office level. “This is why many regional hedge funds are tapping
into talent from investment banks and the traditional asset management
industry, rather than relying solely on hiring from the buyside.”
© HedgeFund Intelligence

March 2014 Special Report 11