State Street’s asset management business State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) named Dublin-based Ann Prendergast head of EMEA. Following this appointment, Prendergast retains her position as chief executive of State Street Global Advisors Europe. As part of the new role, Prendergast will develop and execute the business’ strategic direction in Europe, “ensuring continued growth in the region and providing regulatory oversight for the firms’ EMEA activities”. She will report directly to president and chief executive of SSGA, Yie-Hsin Hung and lead a team of around 500 professionals across the region. She has been with State Street since 2000, beginning as a relationship manager. As head of State Street Global Advisors Europe – her current role – she is responsible for the firm’s EU-based portfolio management, distribution, product development, fund management and operations.
Ruchir Sharma was appointed global head of foreign exchange option trading at Nomura following a stint at Deutsche Bank where he served as co-head of APAC global foreign exchange. Based in London, Sharma will report to Kevin Connors, co-head of global FX and emerging markets and is set to leverage his two decades of experience in FX markets. In this new role, Sharma will be responsible for “leading the growth and development of Nomura’s FX Options business, enhancing both the bank’s client franchise offering and trading capabilities,” according to the business. In addition, he will focus on ensuring close coordination between the FX trading and sales teams. He was previously managing director and head of APAC FX trading at Credit Suisse for almost 13 years, and before that served as a director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he ran the emerging exotic derivatives for ML Asia Pacific.
Cantor Fitzgerald’s head of equities for Asia, Hani Shalabi, has left the firm to join emerging markets investment bank Arqaam as its new head of equities execution services. Shalabi will be responsible for leading and expanding the bank’s equity execution and distribution capabilities across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Arqaam confirmed that Shalabi will have a specific focus on enhancing the firm’s electronic trading capabilities as well. Shalabi most recently served at Cantor Fitzgerald as its head of equities for Asia, based in Hong Kong, a role he held for three years. Previously in his career, Shalabi spent two years as head of execution services for Asia at Deutsche Bank and 10 years at Credit Suisse as head of electronic trading for advanced execution services. He also previously spent two years at UBS as head of electronic trading for Asia. He began his career at Morgan Stanley supporting its trading platforms and infrastructure.
Barclays appointed Jean-Baptiste Patois as head of equity derivatives ex-strategic derivatives, Asia Pacific, responsible for leading exotics and flow derivatives. He was most recently managing director and head of equity derivatives trading, Asia ex-Japan at Nomura. Hong Kong-based Patois will report regionally to Hossein Zaimi, head of markets, APAC, and functionally to Ashish Prabhudesai, global head of structured derivatives and non-US Flow. Patois has a wealth of experience working in equity derivatives focused roles across several markets including North America and Europe. Past roles have included stints as head of exo, flow and hybrids for APAC at Credit Suisse and before that as an equity derivatives trader at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking.
Kepler Cheuvreux Execution Services (KCx) added Sophie Egan to its high touch sales trading team, based in London. Egan was appointed equity sales trader, joining from Morgan Stanley where she spent the last two years in the same role. Elsewhere in her tenure at Morgan Stanley, Egan served as an analyst for two years. As part of her new role, Egan will help develop Kepler Chuevereux’s strategy to grow its execution footprint and expertise across the globe.