HSBC has shifted the nexus of its major fund operations, moving a $445 billion fund management arm from London to Hong Kong in a bid to capture higher growth yields in the Asian markets.
The man tasked to oversee HSBC’s Hong Kong initiative and operations there will be Global Chief Executive of HSBC’s Asset Management, Sridhar Chandrasekharan, who will serve as head of the new operations – he will continue to oversee the business globally from his new location. The move comes amidst an existential period of change for the global lender, as it mulls over a move of its headquarters to the Asian hub.
According to a recent HSBC statement on the possible move, “As a global asset manager, we believe there are opportunities for us to grow our business with our clients and contribute to the evolution of the investment markets.” The installment of Mr. Chandrasekharan lends weight to this idea, namely as HSBC commits a growing amount of resources and human capital to the Hong Kong branch.
Mr. Chandrasekharan joined the Hong Kong office at HSBC prior to the selloff this week in China that convulsed currency markets worldwide. It will be interesting to see if the recent fallout and turmoil wrought by the Chinese economic policy will alter HSBC’s plans, which so far have painted a pretty steady and convincing trajectory towards Hong Kong.
Mr. Chandrasekharan currently serves as HSBC Asset Management’s Global Chief Executive Officer and Director, having previously worked as its Global Head of Wholesale and Head of Marketing at the firm – he has been a mainstay at HSBC since 1993.
Last week, HSBC announced that its Global Head of Foreign Exchange (FX) Options, Selene Chong, had taken a temporary sabbatical, paving the way for veteran Ashwath Venkataraman to fill the void for the foreseeable future. Chong had been a mainstay at HSBC for over fourteen years, having worked at the global bank exclusively relegated to FX.
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