Citigroup Still Tops in Asia Pacific Fixed Income, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. remains the top fixed-income bank for Asia Pacific excluding Japan this year, as it continued to boost its market share, according to a Greenwich Associates survey.

HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. ranked second and third in the region, which includes Australia and New Zealand, the survey showed. Deutsche Bank AG moved into the top five this year, tying for fourth with Bank of America Corp.

The rankings come amid a backdrop of rising fixed-income volumes that have prompted banks to step up hiring “to the most active levels seen in years,” Greenwich said. Firms have seen strong flows in G3 currency-denominated Asian bonds, new issuance and flows in local currency markets, and a surge in China business, it said.

“The story of 2017 is that banks around the world are again looking to Asian fixed income as an important growth market,” Greenwich Managing Director James Borger said in the report. That includes European banks that shrank their businesses in recent years and are “now eyeing expansion,” as well as “relative newcomers” like Wells Fargo & Co., he said.

Greenwich interviewed 749 fixed income investment professionals between May and July for the report.

New York-based Citigroup continued to grow its market share with key clients across the Asia-Pacific region, Borger said. The bank ranked first for G3-denominated Asian bonds, G-10 investment-grade credit and interest-rate derivatives, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at kchan14@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Marcus Wright at mwright115@bloomberg.net, Darren Boey, Sam Mamudi

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