KBC Financial Products is setting up a fund derivatives group and has appointed Sajeev Sirpal, managing director and head of Asia in Hong Kong, to spearhead the effort in London. "If you believe hedge funds are here to stay as an asset class then you can see the potential in this new field," said Sirpal, who will transfer to London in the coming weeks as global head of the newly formed structured fund products group.
The firm has already structured fund derivatives from its equity derivatives division, but demand has become sufficient for KBC to create a separate unit. "The market is ripe for derivatives and structured products on alternative investments," added Sirpal. From the new group, KBC will market such products as swaps, options and capital guaranteed products on hedge funds, as well as collateralized fund obligations. "It's a new generation of underlying and therefore [derivatives] products," he said. The firm will target commercial and private banks, insurance companies, pension funds and fund of funds for the nascent products.
Sirpal has hired Tom Doyle, a marketer at Zurich Capital Markets in London, as director of sales for the structured fund products group in London. Additional hires will be made in the coming weeks as well as internal transfers: "The team will be well-rounded--sales, structuring, analysts, trading, due diligence," said Sirpal. He said it was too early to comment on the size of the group.
