ABN Amro launches Asian absolute return group

ABN Amro has hired Richard Johnson and David Kwan as directors to create a new Asian absolute return strategy group in Hong Kong.

Johnson, who will head the group, joins from SG Securities, where he was a director in regional institutional sales. Previously, he has worked at JP Morgan Securities and Nomura International, and has a total of 13 years' experience in institutional and hedge fund sales.

Kwan, meanwhile, joins the bank from UBS Warburg's hedge fund sales.

Tom Royds, head of Asian equity sales at ABN Amro, said the hires would help grow the absolute returns business, using a platform that draws on the Dutch bank's fundamental Asian research.