Joseph Ho to run Credit Suisse's Asian ETF business

After three years at Lyxor Asset Management, exchange-traded fund veteran Joseph Ho is moving to one of the firms seeking to gain a foothold in Asia's ETF market.

Ho left the French firm on September 30 and will join Credit Suisse in February as regional head of ETFs based in Hong Kong.

In this newly created role he will report to Dan Draper, the Swiss bank’s global head of ETFs in London. Draper also formerly worked at Lyxor and only joined Credit Suisse in February this year.

The move comes amid talk that several asset managers are ramping up in the ETF sector with the aim of challenging market leaders State Street Global Advisors and BlackRock’s iShares business.

Credit Suisse has been involved in the ETF sector since 2001 and manages around SFr12 billion ($12.4 billion) in ETFs globally.

The product range – which the bank expanded with 13 new products in Europe in late August – covers a variety of portfolio modules on share indices and government bonds in Europe, the US, Japan and emerging markets. The range also includes three physically backed gold ETFs.

Before joining Lyxor, Ho was with Barclays Global Investors – now part of BlackRock – in Hong Kong for eight years as regional director for North Asia and Asia ex-Japan head of iShares, the firm’s ETF division.

Ho has 25 years' experience in the asset management industry in the region, having worked in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. He started his career as a portfolio manager and has since expanded his responsibilities to cover product/business development and marketing and sales.

A spokesman for Credit Suisse in Hong Kong declined to comment on the appointment.