UBS Warburg Japan intends to expand its equity hedge fund sales team in Tokyo in the coming months to capture growth in the hedge fund industry and take advantage of other investment banks' headcount reductions. "There are plenty of good people out there either out of work or very concerned about their jobs and the growth in our business gives us a natural need for more," said Nick Garling, head of hedge fund sales at UBS in Tokyo.
The firm will look to hire two to three sales pros over the next few months. He added that the firm is making the hires now because hedge funds have had a relatively active year in Japan and will likely become more active as demand for uncorrelated investments is high. "There are greater inefficiencies in Asian markets compared to the U.S. or Europe,' continued Garling, "hedge funds will look to smooth out market inefficiencies, via arbitrage strategies."
