Newedge taps prime broking veteran Sclater to head origination

Alastair Sclater, who previously headed the prime brokerage operations of UBS and Mizuho Securities in Singapore, has joined Newedge Group as regional head of prime brokerage origination and structuring.

Based in Hong Kong, Sclater is responsible for growing Newedge’s equity and synthetic prime brokerage mandates in Asia-Pacific. He reports to London-based Vincent Tournant, global head of origination and structuring.

Sclater is a six-year veteran of UBS, where he held senior prime brokerage sales roles in Asia before being promoted to head of Singapore prime brokerage in 2009, which was a then newly created position.

A well-regarded industry figure, he is credited with helping to build the bank’s hedge fund client base. UBS was ranked as the top prime brokerage in the Lion City by a recent AsiaHedge survey, with $4.17 billion in total assets under management.

In May 2010, Sclater departed UBS to join Mizuho as head of Singapore prime brokerage. However, the loss-making unit was closed in April this year – after two years of operation – which one industry source attributed to a lack of investment in staff and operational infrastructure on the part of Mizuho.

Tournant says Sclater’s experience within Asia’s prime brokerage sector would help Newedge “expand our franchise even further”.

Sclater is one of five new hires to Newedge’s origination and structuring team, which added four staff in New York. His appointment closely follows the recent departure of Kirby Daley from Newedge in Hong Kong, where he headed capital introductions in Asia. Daley has been replaced by Rebekah Pang, a Singapore-based associate director at Newedge.