Deutsche Bank has set up an equity derivatives quantitative trading group and has hired Zemach Sternberg, a former managing director at Salomon Smith Barney to spearhead the operation, as first reported on DW's Web site (DW, 4/5, www.derivativesweek.com). The move is part of the bank's wider expansion into the U.S. equity derivatives market, according to Yassine Bouhara, global head of equity derivatives in London.
Quantitative trading is one of the few remaining risk distribution areas for the bank to penetrate, having already built up franchises in retail, institutional and corporate derivatives, according to an official. In addition, the quantitative aspect will make the firm's hedging more efficient and boost its market making activity, he added.
The group will be more than a black box operation, said the official. "It is harnessing quantitative concepts and applying them in efficient ways," he explained. Adding, "That doesn't have to translate into automatic trading."
Deutsche Bank plans to grow the group in the U.S. over the next year, but also to expand it into Europe and Asia.