Bessie Wang, BOCI

Salespeople are the bridge between investors and their counterparties, and as such they have responsibilities to both sides. It is a delicate balancing act they have to perform. Likewise, traders are accountable for their banks’ profit & loss statements, while doing deals that work for their clients. Having accumulated mountains of expertise and scores of carefully nurtured relationships, the best of them stand out in their performance. Here are the top salespeople and traders of 2021:

In the complex Asian bond markets, the buyside values – above all – the Trust and Integrity of salespeople. More than three quarters (77%) of investors taking part in the 21st annual Asian G3 Bond Benchmark survey, rated the twin qualities as “essential” when selecting their counterparty sales.

	Elaine Chan, Barclays

“As a house we’ve had a good relationship with the traders and salespeople, and also the research,” explains a portfolio manager with a major global institution. “We trust their salesperson as she really does work for her clients. She passes on the goodwill to her traders and the traders do treat us very well. And they can do size and price, which we appreciate. And they tell us when we need to go away.”

Not surprisingly, Speed and Consistency of Pricing (52%) and a Knowledge of Your Product Needs (51%) were also key requirements, followed closely by Flow of Information and Market Colour (47%). As one investor puts it: “Our good salespeople know what we need. They give us lots of colour. They are proactive – showing us any axes, any research, flagging things that may be of interest to us.”

As a reflection of the importance of the China bid, Greater China salespeople take the top three positions in the 2021 rankings. Yili Dong (Citi) is in first place for the fifth consecutive year, while Bessie Wang (BOCI) has been steadily moving up the league table from 10th in 2017 to 2nd in 2020 and 2021. However, Christina Park (Morgan Stanley) deserves a special mention since she has been in the top 10 for nine consecutive years.

In 2021, 535 salespeople received nominations, up 17% from 2020.

Kelvin Zhao, UBS

Trading places

If trust is essential in sales, so it is – or more so – in trading. States a hedge fund manager: “I speak a lot to the trader, I think he is ace. That for me is the real value-add because I know that I can trust him. He wouldn’t ever do me over just for a quick one. That kind of trust is very important.”

The top four traders have been trading places for years. Since 2020,  Wentao Yan (Nomura) has been ruling the roost. But Kelvin Zhao (UBS) and Conor Yuan (Goldman Sachs) are also regulars in the top three. Likewise, Zhirong Chen has been one of Asia’s top traders since 2015.

For the complete list of The Best Individuals in Asian G3 bonds for 2021 (salespeople) please click here.

For the complete list of The Best Individuals in Asian G3 bonds for 2021 (traders) please click here.