Rick Gould, CEO of , the offshore platform of Chinese investment bank Citic Securities Co Ltd, will take on the role of the group’s chief executive.
Gould steps in his new position with immediate effect. He succeeds Jonathan Slone who departed the Asia-focused broker amid differences over strategy with Chinese parent CITIC Securities, which bought the company back in 2013.
CLSA Chairman Tang Zhenyi also resigned in early March amid CITIC’s efforts to revamp CLSA’s daily operations.
CLSA Americas was set up over three decades ago under the brand name Citic CLSA and focused on serving US funds looking to invest in Asia. The firm offers execution and trading services, including sector trading, ADR trading, portfolio trading, electronic execution and commission management, according to its website.
CLSA changes its US broking business
Earlier in 2017, CLSA closed big chunk of its business, including the research function in the US. Instead, the company has pushed aggressively into investment banking as earnings of its fell off a cliff for two years because trading turnover has shrunk sharply since the boom seen in 2015. Trading volumes both in Hong Kong and the mainland have since continued at low levels.
Commenting on the executive move, Zhang Youjun, chairman of and CLSA, said: “Citic Securities is very aware of the current shifts in the global financial markets but we are optimistic about the growth opportunities that lie ahead. Our goal is to ensure both Citic Securities and CLSA work more closely together to develop opportunities and solutions for clients.”
“Gould’s experience in building high-performing teams and in growing international businesses will be critical to accelerate our strategy to build a leading Chinese global investment bank,” added Zhang in the statement.
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