Morgan Sze, the former head of Goldman Sachs proprietary trading desk, has chosen UBS along with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as prime brokers for the $1 billion-plus hedge fund he plans to launch in Q2, Reuters is reporting.
While Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were expected choices, UBS won the third of three appointments amid a great deal of competition among the biggest prime brokers; Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse reportedly also competed for the mandate. Szes fund, Azentus Capital, will be one of the largest Asian hedge funds ever, expected to pay millions of dollars in broker fees, according to Reuters.
The prime brokerage unit of UBS had a difficult crisis, and achieved its lowest scores in Asia in the most recent Global Custodian Survey of Prime Brokers. Clients of UBS, however, pointed out the commitment of the prime broker to its business in the region. Morgan Stanley was top rated, and Goldman Sachs commended, in the Asia-Pacific region in the survey.
Sze recently registered Azentus Capital with the Hong Kong regulator.