Canada's CIBC World Markets is revving up its nascent structured-credit marketing desk in Asia. "Asia is a growth story--there's still a lot of CDO demand and some markets are opening up further such as Taiwan, Korea and Thailand as investors seek yield and diversification," said Gilbert Ong, director in Singapore.
Ong joined this month from Fitch Ratings in Hong Kong, where he focused on structured credit research. Last year Shang Song, executive director in the Lion City, established a marketing desk for Asia which is now looking to push out cash and synthetic CDO transactions. Ong said the firm's strength is in its origination capabilities. "A lot of larger houses have set templates for separate cash or synthetic deal origination whereas we focus more on customized transactions that better suit and reflect client needs, irrespective of the product in question," he added.
