Where Talent Is A Rare Commodity In Asia

Asia is booming and zooming in all financial directions – except in commodities talent.

Asia is booming and zooming in all financial directions – except in commodities talent. Reuters reports that the region may be losing out on millions because of a lack of talented commodities brokers, even as the asset class is becoming mainstream. “There’s a relatively small pool of people with in-depth commodity trading experience, and there’s an even smaller number of people who have any exposure to managing third-party money,” says Michael Coleman, managing director Aisling Analytics, a hedge fund manager in Singapore that specializes in commodities, in a Reuters interview. Most commodities trading advisers work out of the U.S. or Europe, close to major exchanges, says Reuters, noting that CTAs are rare in Asia outside of Japan. Direct investment in hedge funds has soared from about US$10 billion in 2000 to upwards of US$200 billion, with large part of its in passive funds tracking indices by Dow Jones and large investment banks such as Goldman Sachs.