Credit Lyonnais is planning to hire a weather derivatives marketer in the first quarter and is interviewing candidates. The firm hired Peter Brewer, structurer in weather derivatives in London, from Aquila in May to build up its presence in the weather market, and because Credit Lyonnais has seen adequate demand for weather derivatives products, it would like to have a marketer dedicated solely to the effort, Brewer said. Currently the products are sold through marketers that sell a wide range of products, including weather derivatives.
Brewer declined to disclose the number of deals the firm closed last year, but said inquiries from end users have increased over the past few months. "We are trying to bring someone in to serve the increase in potential customers," Brewer added. A weather derivatives broker commented that Brewer has set up the business from scratch and it makes sense that he would need to add a marketer since the firm is "setting up shop properly."
Another person familiar with the market added that Credit Lyonnais has been one of the more active players in structuring client trades. He cautioned, however, that he believes it is a dying market and if the number of other firms doing customer business declines or disappears, Credit Lyonnais and other current players will have to hold that risk on their books and become de facto insurance companies.
