Bloomberg – HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank by market value, is attracting hedge fund business because of concerns that prime brokers are under threat from the credit market collapse, said Tim Howell, the bank’s global head of securities services.
HSBC is in talks with hedge funds with more than $100 billion in assets, and is aiming to provide some services offered by prime brokers to its single-strategy hedge fund clients, such as foreign exchange and treasury products, in addition to traditional administration and custody functions, Howell said.
"Over the last three months, funds moving away from prime brokerage have been the most significant source of the pipeline we have,” said London-based Howell in an interview April 8. “In the current economic climate, a lot of funds say they ascribe very high value to the creditworthiness of the person looking after their assets.”
