Morgan Stanley is looking to expand its nascent Hong Kong-based credit derivatives operation in the coming months with a mix of transfers and hires. "We generally believe the Asian market will continue to grow," said Richard Cohen, Asia-Pacific credit derivatives trader in Hong Kong. "We've been underinvested," he added. Cohen joined earlier this year from Merrill Lynch, where he was head of Pacific Rim credit derivatives in Tokyo, to establish a non-Japan Asia trading desk (DW, 5/4). "The building blocks have been here--it's just a matter of slotting it in," he added, explaining that the desk intends to leverage Morgan Stanley's fixed income presence in the region.
The firm is transferring Mitesh Gupta, credit derivatives trader in London, and Winnie Chin, telecom, media and technology credit trader in New York, in the coming weeks to be a cash and credit derivatives trader. Additionally, Eric Lim, credit derivatives structurer in Singapore, will move across. Cohen continued that the firm is likely to hire one or two traders early next year.