Temat: Goldman targets Asean opportunities

Goldman targets Asean opportunities

By Sundeep Tucker in Hong Kong and Amy Kazmin in Bangkok

Published: November 28 2007

Goldman Sachs has appointed a senior executive to a new role as head of its south-east Asian operations, a move that signals the bank's bullish view of the region's growth prospects.

Global investment banks in Asia are typically pouring resources into fast-growing markets such as China and India, so Goldman's creation of the position covering smaller countries such as Indonesia and Thailand will intrigue its banking rivals.

In a memo to staff yesterday, Goldman said that David Ryan, a partner and head of the bank's financing group for Asia excluding Japan, would relocate from Hong Kong to Singapore in January to be full-time chairman of the bank's south-east Asian business.

At present Goldman, like most of its rivals, manages its myriad operations in the region through a number of senior executives, including Tim Leissner, head of investment banking for south-east Asia.

According to the memo, Mr Ryan will be "responsible for determining and implementing strategy and ensuring that there is effective cross-divisional co-ordination" across its banking and principal investment activities.

Singapore is an important regional base for Goldman's commodity and asset management businesses.

South-east Asia spans the 10-member nations of the Asean trading bloc, which includes Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. The bloc is trying to forge a common market by 2015.

Asean countries combined have a population of 560m and a $1,000bn economy. The region remains one of the world's fastest growing, with an average annual expansion rate of 5.1 per cent since 1999.

Mr Ryan, who joined the bank in 1992, will remain on the board of Goldman Sachs JB Were, the bank's Australian business.

As a result of Mr Ryan's move, Goldman is relocating Dan Dees, head of the bank's financing group in Tokyo, to Hong Kong to oversee the group across the region. The financing group is the division responsible for capital markets activity including initial public offerings.

Mr Dees' move underscores the relative slow growth in capital markets activity in Japan - where equity issuance is sluggish - compared to regions such as greater China or south-east Asia. Many investment banks are redeploying bankers from Tokyo to other Asian countries.

The memo added that Jasper Tans, a Goldman managing director, would relocate from London to Tokyo to replace Mr Dees.

The main Asean economies are trying to increase links between their financial markets as well.

This week, the chiefs of stock exchanges in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines agreed to consider ways to deepen links between their respective capital markets, and to promote the notion of an "Asean" asset class.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

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