HSBC hires for Asia placement push

HSBC’s private capital advisory group has hired Jingjing Bai from Hong Kong-based placement agent Eaton Partners to lead the group’s efforts in Asia Pacific, a move that is part of its wider intention to grow its advisory services business.

According to an internal memo obtained by Private Equity International, Bai will work with HSBC’s regional financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds and institutional private clients groups to identify clients' alternative investment strategies and appetite.

She intends “to establish a cohesive two-way working relationship to deepen our regional institutional relationship, especially in their long term alternative investment strategies,” the announcement said.

Bai joins from Eaton Partners where she spent six years in both fund mandate origination and distribution efforts across Asia Pacific, building a network of institutional investors and financial sponsors in the region.

Bai officially joined the bank in February, but HSBC sent the internal announcement to employees today.

HSBC declined to comment on the appointment, but a source close to the matter told PEI the move is part of the bank’s desire to strengthen and expand its advisory services business in Asia Pacific – Bai filling a newly-created position.

She will report to Lindsay Chu, head of HSBC’s financial sponsors group, banking Asia Pacific, in Hong Kong, and Christopher Cooke, HSBC global head of private capital advisory banking.

So far, the private clients advisory group has executed a number of successful mandates, according to the memo, and it continues to expand its footprints both geographically and across sectors and asset classes, including buyouts, growth capital, credit, energy and real estate funds.