Houses in Asia are moving toward independent hybrid structuring desks as appetite for higher-yielding sophisticated products grows in the region. "A lot of firms are looking at setting up separate hybrid desks to get around the politics of joint-ventures between groups," said a headhunter in Hong Kong. Citigroup for instance is setting up a desk (DW, 3/24) and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan already have them. HSBC is also building up a desk out of Hong Kong, according to firm officials.
"This is a theme for the year," said a market official, noting that investors in the region are becoming more comfortable with cross-asset class exposures and firms are boosting their ability to offer such structures.
