US investment bank Jefferies has established full-service equity capabilities in Mumbai, India as part of the firm's continued expansion of its global equities franchise. Operations are expected to launch in Q3 2011.
Kunal Bajaj has been appointed as a managing director and head of India equity sales. He has 11 years of industry experience and joins Jefferies from broker Credit Suisse where he was a director in institutional equity sales covering clients based in Asia.
Ramnath Iyer joins Jefferies as managing director in equity sales focused on serving the Indian market, having moved from buy-side firm Pioneer Investments where he was a senior portfolio manager. Iyer previously worked as an emerging markets strategist at broker CLSA in London and as India portfolio manager and strategy coordinator at UOB Asset Management.
Govind Chellappa has been named managing director and head of India research and senior equity research analyst covering the automobile and consumer industries. He most recently worked at Credit Suisse where he was a director in equity research also covering the automobile and consumer sectors. Previously, he was a vice president in equity research at Deutsche Bank.
Anand Agarwal has also moved from Credit Suisse, where he was a vice president in equity research covering the real estate and cement sectors, to become a senior vice president and senior equity research analyst covering the real estate industry for Jefferies. Prior to working at Credit Suisse he was an equity analyst at UBS.
Bajaj, Chellappa and Agarwal will be based in Mumbai, and Iyer will be based in the firm's Singapore office.
Jefferies recently received membership approvals from the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), as well as a certificate of registration from national regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India, as a stockbroker on the NSE and BSE.
The firm's existing investment banking effort in India is led by Probir Rao, head of India investment banking and capital markets. Established in 2007, Jefferies' 12-strong Indian investment banking team covers a broad range of sectors, which has advised Indian clients on over US$6 billion in M&A transactions and more than US$3.5 billion in capital raising transactions.
To support its growth in India, Jefferies has made additional key hires in the areas of operations, finance and compliance.
To accommodate this expansion, Jefferies is building new office space in the MakerMaxity building in the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. The firm's equities business now consists of more than 700 professionals globally, including over 200 outside the US.