Barclays hires sales trader in Hong Kong after pullback

Barclays hired Joseph Lee from HSBC Holdings as head of high-touch equity sales trading for Asia-Pacific as the UK bank ramps up staffing after exiting the business almost a decade ago.

The senior move follows the addition of Paul Johnson from Goldman Sachs in January as head of equities for the region, and Christian Treuer, head of equities distribution. Lee will report to Peter Ramsey, global head of cash equities, and Treuer, according to a statement on Thursday (Jul 10).

The London-based lender is putting together one of the final pieces of its Asia equity strategy started three years ago. The firm is making a global push to expand the business and build out its platform by ploughing more capital into profitable businesses such as prime brokerage and equity derivatives.

Barclays exited so-called high-touch cash equities in Asia in 2016, retaining only electronic trading, prime brokerage and derivatives. Since 2022, it has been aggressively rebuilding its regional markets franchise under Hossein Zaimi, who joined from HSBC as head of Asia-Pacific markets. Zaimi was promoted to global head of macro in May last year.

High-touch cash equities are trades executed by sales traders or brokers, typically involving large or sensitive orders that require personalised service and strategic execution as opposed to automated, low-touch electronic trades. International firms such as Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered have shut down or significantly scaled back their cash equities operations due to margin pressures and an inability to match the scale of Wall Street competitors.

Lee, based in Hong Kong, brings 30 years of experience in equities trading and sales. He was the former head of block liquidity at HSBC in Hong Kong. Before that, he held senior roles at Credit Suisse, including head of Korea equities and Asia-Pacific high-touch execution, according to the release.

The managing director will work closely with Matt Toms, head of cash equity execution for Asia-Pacific, along with Kaanhari Singh, head of equities tactical strategies, and Daniel Ranson-Acton, head of international equity cash sales in the region.

Barclays aims to become a top-five global equities platform, and has made targeted investments across several areas, including derivatives, quantitative investment strategies and prime brokerage, the bank said. BLOOMBERG