Published: June 24, 2009
Exotix, a frontier market broker and investment banking boutique, has recruited Vikas Nath as its new chief executive to strengthen its senior management team, following three years of rapid growth.
Exotix is one of the small numbers of brokers that has increased market share during the credit crisis and has attracted sales teams from major banks. Its revenues have risen by 160% and headcount by 60%. To build on this momentum, Peter Bartlett, managing director and the founder of Exotix, will become the head of sales and trading and focus on developing new client relationships, opening new offices and recruiting sales teams.
Vikas Nath, the new CEO of Exotix comments: “It was the scale and ambition of the firm’s plans for the future that convinced me I was making the right move.”
He adds: “The areas that we want expand is the geographic footprint and we want to develop more products. We are seriously considering an office in the Middle East as we want to establish a presence in the sukuk market. We would also like to develop our equities business. Exotix started as a fixed income house and the equities business only started about two or three years ago. In addition to that, there is a fair amount of advisory that we want to develop in the emerging markets.”
Nath will be responsible for Exotix’s strategy across all its businesses and markets. He is also tasked with developing the firm’s research and advisory capabilities, in addition to exploring new business ventures.
Nath joins Exotix from North of South Capital, a London and Hong Kong-based hedge fund which he co-founded in 2004, and which was named the emerging markets hedge fund of the year for 2007. As well as managing a shariah-compliant emerging markets hedge fund, Nath was responsible for all marketing and investment research.