HK
Morgan Stanley opens Sydney prime brokerage
3 May 2006
Morgan Stanley has extended its global prime brokerage business, which finances hedge funds, by opening an office in Sydney, Australia.
The bank will etablish the operation with initially four staff, according to a spokeswoman in Hong Kong. The office will complement its existing Asian operations in Tokyo and Hong Kong, from which it has served the Australian market since 1997.
It plans to take advantage of anticipated growth in the Australian hedge fund industry. This runs $16bn (€13bn) of assets, about 1% of the global industry, but is expected to expand 10-fold over the next 10 years.
UBS and Citigroup are understood to be the only two of Morgan Stanley's rivals to have established prime brokerage operations in Australia. Morgan Stanley has a 35% share of the Australian prime brokerage market.
