Nomura Expands FX and Emerging Markets Teams in Asia

Nomura Holdings, Inc. is bolstering its foreign-exchange and emerging markets trading teams in Asia, driven by the belief that persistent market volatility will continue to fuel client demand. The brokerage, which is the largest in Japan, expects that the favorable market conditions that recently pushed global equities to record highs will return as geopolitical tensions ease and energy prices stabilize. > Our macro businesses tend to perform well in periods of volatility. Rig Karkhanis, Nomura’s head of global markets, noted that the macro business—which includes interest rates, foreign exchange, and emerging markets trading—is a primary focus for the firm as clients use these tools to diversify and rebalance their portfolios. Despite the expectation of continued volatility, Karkhanis projects that the positive environment for stocks could last another two years, driven by massive investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure that are expected to boost productivity and growth. > My base case is we will see a normalization of geopolitical risk. Nomura is also recruiting for its United States rates business under Moritz Westhoff, who was appointed as the new head of U.S. rates in August. This hiring push follows a strong performance in trading revenue, which reached 716 billion yen ($4.5 billion) in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending in March. > Next year I think it’ll be another very strong year. In the fixed-income market, Karkhanis observed that a normalization of tensions should lower yields for long-end Japanese government bonds. Demand for this debt has been increasing among global asset managers, particularly as yields reach levels comparable to European bonds. However, the industry faces a challenge in finding traders with experience in the high-yield environment of the 1980s. > Japan rates traders are probably the most in demand globally, so its highly competitive.