Citigroup hires Goldman, Millennium alum for Asia prime finance

[HONG KONG] Citigroup hired Goldman Sachs and Millennium Management alumnus Jignesh Patel as Asia-Pacific prime finance head, as it seeks to expand its business catering to hedge funds.

Patel started on Monday (Aug 11) and is based in Hong Kong, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. He reports to the bank’s global heads of prime services Sebastien Mailleux and Tim Tomalin-Reeves. He also reports to Robert Stewart, Asia-Pacific head of equity trading, who wrote the memo. A Citigroup spokesperson confirmed the content of the document.

Patel was Asia-Pacific prime services chief operating officer at Goldman Sachs. The firm and Morgan Stanley have been the region’s dominant prime brokers, an operation that usually help hedge funds settle trades, lend them securities, advise them on business setup and introduce them to potential investors.

Patel was most recently with Izzy Englander’s US$78 billion hedge fund giant as Asia-Pacific treasurer, the memo said.

Citigroup’s markets business recently announced a 16 per cent revenue jump and 20 per cent surge in profit in the best second quarter in five years. Its equities division saw a record in the same period, driven by growth in prime services. BLOOMBERG