HALFWAY THROUGH A meeting in the Seoul headquarters of the Samsung group, Euromoney asks SJ Hwang about the competition in the Asian equities brokerage business. It is perhaps the first time in the meeting that the fast-talking Hwang, head of global equities at Samsung Securities, pauses for breath.
"Well, first up you have the 11 entrenched global players," he begins, "the bulge-bracket banks that I don’t need to name plus CLSA, Macquarie and I would include Nomura. Then three or four banks with a global footprint and a chequered history in equities, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Daiwa...Then you have the start-ups on a regional basis, Mizuho, MUFG, RBC, Religare... plus the Chinese brokers are increasingly going region-wide, the likes of CICC and Citic Securities... I haven’t mentioned Jefferies yet, they are expanding in Asia – I would say there are more than 40 significant players in the Hong Kong market alone, and everyone is looking for people."
It is as concise a summary of the problem facing people in Hwang’s position as Euromoney hears. It has become a commonplace over the past year or so to state that Asia is at the forefront of growth in global financial markets, and with global firms turning to Asia for growth in the brokerage business, and Asia brokers looking to expand outside their home markets, the competition is intense.