MF Global, an intermediary offering customized solutions in global cash, derivatives and related markets, has launched an equities research, sales and execution team that will provide i
MF Global, an intermediary offering customized solutions in global cash, derivatives and related markets, has launched an equities research, sales and execution team that will provide its global clients with insight and analysis on Japan’s most liquid stocks.
In addition, the company has changed the name of its Tokyo-based business from FXA Securities to MF Global FXA Securities.
‘Building on the success of our European research led model, the expansion into Japanese equities furthers our pan-Asia growth strategy and enhances our client offering with access to regional markets,’ says Bernard W. Dan (pictured), chief executive of MF Global. ‘Our clients throughout Asia as well as in North America and Europe can now participate in the world’s second largest economy armed with the independent intelligence that our analysts and sales team provide.’
The research driven brokerage team, led by managing director Graham Elliott, will offer independent, thematic analysis on leading Japanese companies. The team’s output will serve as an alternative to general maintenance research which has increasingly become the standard offering for Japanese equities.
‘Over the last two years, the number of research providers in Japan has declined markedly through mergers or withdrawals from the market. As a result, investors tell us that it has become increasingly difficult to find quality research that they can rely on,’ says Elliott. ‘So we are seizing what we see as a prime opportunity to provide valuable analysis that is independent and unconflicted due to our agency-only equities model.’
Elliott, former chief executive of Jefferies Japan, joined MF Global in April and has built an initial team of seven equity research analysts and a sales and execution team of 11 with extensive experience in Japanese markets. With plans to expand to ten to 15 analysts, the team is supported by a full sales trading desk in Tokyo and research sales professionals in London and New York.
