Citi wants some new Asian prime broking professionals. Doesn't everyone?

Citi wants to hire some more people for its Asian prime broking business. It may find there is some competition in this. 

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Following last week's Citi investor day at which head of the markets business Andy Morton said growing prime broking revenues is an area of focus and that Citi wants $700bn of prime brokerage balances by 2028, Bloomberg reported this week that Citi wants to increase its Asian prime broking headcount by 10%, with a focus on hiring in Singapore and India.

India seems a bigger focus than Singapore. Citi is already advertising roles stating that its prime services team is building a new "dedicated hub" in Mumbai. Multiple jobs are already available there, across the likes of risk, clearing, strats and product development. 

Citi's enthusiasm for Asian prime broking is not unique. Both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley called out their own growing Asian prime broking revenues in the first quarter. Hedge funds are increasingly active in Asian markets. Reuters reported this week that hedge fund purchases of APAC stocks are at a ten year high. 

APAC prime broking is dominated by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which account for a combined 40% of the market according to With Intelligence. UBS, Bank of America and JPMorgan account for another 6%, 6% and 5% of the APAC prime market respectively, with Citi and others presumably in the remaining amorphous 44%.

Citi's new Mumbai prime hub may help it sidestep competition for talent in Singapore and Hong Kong. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, for example, are currently also looking for prime broking strats, but are doing so in Hong Kong. 

Goldman onboards its prime broking clients in its Bengalaru hub, though, suggesting that Citi won't be the only one seeking new prime talent in India. Citi's selling point may be that its Mumbai jobs are higher up the prime services value chain than rivals.' - While Goldman wants onboarding specialists in India, Citi says its new Mumbai hub will have people designing quantitative algorithms, analysing market data and 'collaborating cross functionally' with its sales people and traders. 

This is all intended to "bring world-class talent closer to the heart of our global Prime business," says Citi. 

Citi declined to comment.

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