Economics & Strategy - Fixed-Income Strategy – First

The buy side says: “I value the honesty of Simon’s calls.”

Seizing the top spot in this new sector is the five-strong Nomura squad captained by Simon Flint, who also guides the No. 3 team in Currency & Foreign Exchange. Flint, 41, “doesn’t push his ideas too hard, yet clearly expresses his level of conviction,” cheers one backer. The team members are headquartered in Mumbai, ­Singapore and Sydney. They’re concerned with global issues, such as the risk of further weakness in Europe, but also track more-­local matters. “The greatest sensitivity to developments in core markets would be in those countries with small, open economies and a good deal of openness in the financial sector,” notably, Australia, ­Singapore and South Korea, Flint says. Each of the swap curves for these countries’ currencies has strong relationships with the dollar swap curve, he says, noting that the Australia-U.S. spread compression should be a good trade over the medium term. “This is supported by the fact that we see the moderate growth outlook for Australia and the continued search for high-­quality sovereign assets from investors underpinning demand for Australian paper.” Flint joined the firm in 2008 from Merrill Lynch, where he was head of forex strategy. He earned a master’s in economics from Cambridge University.     — ­Carolyn Koo