It has been reported that Magnus, who is also a member of the Singapore Management Committee, will join the firm as a senior managing director in the autumn, where he will focus on providing strategic, merger and acquisitions and capital markets advice to companies in Singapore and throughout South East Asia.
Ralph Schlosstein, Evercore’s president and chief executive said of the appointment: "It is another important step in extending the global capabilities that Evercore delivers to its clients. Once established, our office in Singapore combined with our office in Hong Kong and our strategic alliances in China, Japan, India and Korea, will allow us to better serve both our Asian clients and our global clients with interests in Asia.”
Evercore’s move into Singapore signals a move to take advantage of growing opportunities in the merger advisory and capital-raising business across southeast Asia. International bank and finance firms have also flocked to the region in recent months, highlighting the growing importance of Asian markets in the portfolios of many long-term investors.
Two weeks ago Swiss National Bank targeted Singapore for its first overseas branch, while a recent Price Waterhouse Coopers survey predicted that Singapore will overtake Switzerland as the top international finance centre within the next two years.
Part of Singapore’s attraction, according to managing director of Singapore’s central bank, Ravi Menon, is the scale of its asset management industry, with more than 500 players managing assets of around US$1.1trn. Switzerland still remains the top IFC at present with US $2trn in assets.
