Good ship JPMorgan loses its flying Dutchman

JPMorgan announced yesterday that it has appointed Nick Andrews to work alongside Michiel Steenman as co-head of Asian equity capital markets. Andrews (below right) has been poached from CSFB and will work alongside Steenman for a number of months before the latter moves back to Europe at the instigation of his family.

Both men have been in Asia since 1994, with Steenman starting out at ABN AMRO before moving to Jardine Fleming ahead of its acquisition by Chase and Andrews at BZW prior to its acquisition by CSFB.

Both also share a love of music, although the former is well known in the markets for a love of house music, while the latter is an Eagles fan who has amassed a growing collection of electric guitars, the most expensive of which hails from the Rolling Stones and was purchased at Christies in London about a year ago as a treat for completing a transaction.

"Playing the air guitar is one of Nick's favourite pastimes," jokes one observer, who goes on to describe him as a talented musician and one of the best managers working in Asian investment banking. Indeed, after becoming head of Asian ECM at CSFB, Andrews built up an incredibly closely knit team and clocked up an impressive track record of deals, although this was not always reflected in league table rankings since most were run on a joint books basis.

At JPMorgan, he inherits a platform that has only recently started to come into its own after years in the wilderness following the bank's decision to shut down its equities platform. Under Steenman's determined leadership the bank is said to have built up a pipeline for the present year in excess of $4 billion, equating to 15 mandates on either a sole or joint books basis.

Both men will report to Fraser Partridge, head of Asian equities and Carlos Hernandez, global head of equity capital markets.