Morgan Stanley rehires prime broker

Morgan Stanley has rehired Scott Ashton in its Hong Kong prime brokerage unit. He had left the firm in 2008 to join private equity group Blackstone.

Ashton spent nine years with Morgan Stanley in equity sales, prime brokerage and as chief representative of the Shanghai office.

He returns as an executive director with a focus on new business in China, an area run by Lorraine Wong, and will also be responsible for regional client coverage. He will report to Richard Webb, who co-heads the Morgan Stanley prime broking unit in Asia.

"Scott Ashton has deep relationships across the Asian hedge fund community, as well as extensive experience in China," says Webb. "Given the uptick in hedge fund activity from China, he will make an impact on our prime brokerage sales efforts there."

The firm has been rebuilding its prime broking team in Asia recently, with hires including Yasumitsu Iwasa in Tokyo and Mark Javed in Sydney.