CLSA
Encyclopedia
'CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets' is one of the region’s largest and most highly rated independent equity brokers and financial-services groups, focused on providing broking, investment banking and asset management to corporate and institutional clients around the world.
Founded in 1986, CLSA has its headquarters in Hong Kong and offices or representatives in 15 cities across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as New York, London, San Francisco and Dubai. CLSA is majority owned (65%) by Crédit Agricole
, France’s largest retail-banking group, with the remainder held by staff.
Unlike most of its competitors, CLSA is a research-driven agency broker. It’s known for its annual investor forums (particularly the calibre of its keynote speakers and the star acts at its parties), as well as its unique reports, the hallmarks of which are colourful and sometimes irreverent “cartoon” covers and analysis that goes beyond the numbers and ‘tells the story’ (a legacy of the journalism background of its founders). It has produced a number of seminal reports, including Billion Boomers and Mr & Mrs Asia.
Walker was soon joined by two other former journalists: Gary Coull
, as head of the dealing room; and Malcolm Surry, as head of research. All three had worked at the South China Morning Post
; neither Coull nor Surry had any experience in brokering.
The following year, Crédit Lyonnais
acquired Alexander Laing & Cruickshank and, after various iterations, Walker’s startup emerged in 1989 as Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia). But relations with the French giant – which was about to be engulfed by a series of major financial scandals – soon became ‘impossible’, according to Coull, and he and Walker resigned. They were persuaded to return in exchange for a 35% stake in the company and guarantees of independence.
magazine.
Bits & pieces (Damian Kestel)
Eye on Asian economies (Eric Fishwick)
GREED & fear (Christopher Wood)
Sinology (Andy Rothman)
Solid Ground (Russell Napier)
Described by London’s Telegraph newspaper as ‘the first to predict the US sub-prime meltdown’, Christopher Wood is best known for his weekly GREED & fear newsletter. He’s been ranked No.1 Asian equities strategist every year since 2002 by either Asiamoney or Institutional Investor and usually by both. A former finance journalist with the Far Eastern Economic Review
and The Economist
, Wood is also the author of Boom & Bust, The Bubble Economy and The End of Japan Inc. He also wrote the CLSA milestone research report, The Real Pacific Century: Asia’s Billion Boomers.
Andy Rothman
China Macro Strategist Andy Rothman, a former American diplomat, joined CLSA in 2000. Under the Sinology label, he writes analysis of economic and political trends on the mainland, as well as assessments of China's impact on regional economies. Rothman first went to China in 1980 as a student; he returned four years later as a diplomat, and focused on China for most of his 17 years with the US Foreign Service. He served as director of the Macroeconomic and Domestic Policy Office of the US Embassy in Beijing, and helped negotiate the normalisation of relations between the USA and Vietnam.
Eric Fishwick
One of only a handful of economists with first-hand experience of Japan’s deleveraging during the 1990s, plus the US Treasury and money markets, Eric Fishwick was named Asia’s top economist in 2009 by Asiamoney. Although his focus is China, Fishwick is an expert on Asian economies, and has 17 years’ experience in financial markets. Before that, he was a permanent advisor to the UK House of Commons. He holds a masters' degree in economics and a master of philosophy in international relations from the University of Cambridge.
Russell Napier
London-based consultant Russell Napier writes about issues and themes affecting global equity markets, under the Solid Ground label. Napier played a key role in the development and scope of CLSA’s equity research in his role as equity strategist from 1995-1999. He was ranked No.1 by both the Asiamoney and Institutional Investor polls from 1997 to 1999. Napier’s book Anatomy of the Bear was named the ‘investment read of the year’ in 2006 by the Financial Times.
Asiamoney “vote-rigging” email (2005)
Allen Lam insider-trading conviction (July 2009)
Anatomy of the Bear: Lessons from Wall Street’s four great bottoms, Russell Napier ISBN 9789628606795
Climb! The Pinstriped Backpack, Richard Pyvis ISBN 9789628606719
The Corruption of Capitalism: A strategy to rebalance the global economy and restore sustainable growth, Richard Duncan ISBN 9789889894245
Islam & Economics: A productive partnership?, Richard Pyvis & Phillip Braun ISBN 9789889894221
Mr & Mrs Asia: An extraordinary survey of an extraordinary region ISBN 9789889894207
New beginnings: After the tsunami: The rebuilding of Lamreh Village, Aceh, Isla Rogers-Winarto and Helen Vanwel
Tomorrow’s Gold: Asia’s age of discovery, Marc Faber ISBN 9789628606726
Singapore Slingers
China Reality Research (requires subscription)
CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets
CLSA Capital Partners
Founded in 1986, CLSA has its headquarters in Hong Kong and offices or representatives in 15 cities across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as New York, London, San Francisco and Dubai. CLSA is majority owned (65%) by Crédit Agricole
Crédit Agricole
Crédit Agricole S.A. is the largest retail banking group in France, second largest in Europe and the eighth largest in the world by Tier 1 capital according to The Banker magazine. It is also part of the CAC 40 stock market index....
, France’s largest retail-banking group, with the remainder held by staff.
Unlike most of its competitors, CLSA is a research-driven agency broker. It’s known for its annual investor forums (particularly the calibre of its keynote speakers and the star acts at its parties), as well as its unique reports, the hallmarks of which are colourful and sometimes irreverent “cartoon” covers and analysis that goes beyond the numbers and ‘tells the story’ (a legacy of the journalism background of its founders). It has produced a number of seminal reports, including Billion Boomers and Mr & Mrs Asia.
History
In 1986, Winfull Laing & Cruickshank Securities began operations in Hong Kong, with former business journalist Jim Walker as chairman. The small brokerage was a 50-50 joint venture between the Woo Hon Fai family and Alexander Laing & Cruickshank.Walker was soon joined by two other former journalists: Gary Coull
Gary Coull
Gary Coull was a co-founder and chairman of CLSA, a brokerage house specializing in Asia-Pacific stock markets.Born in Canada, Coull graduated in 1976 from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor of arts...
, as head of the dealing room; and Malcolm Surry, as head of research. All three had worked at the South China Morning Post
South China Morning Post
The South China Morning Post , together with its Sunday edition, the Sunday Morning Post, is an English-language Hong Kong newspaper, published by the SCMP Group with a circulation of 104,000....
; neither Coull nor Surry had any experience in brokering.
The following year, Crédit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993...
acquired Alexander Laing & Cruickshank and, after various iterations, Walker’s startup emerged in 1989 as Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia). But relations with the French giant – which was about to be engulfed by a series of major financial scandals – soon became ‘impossible’, according to Coull, and he and Walker resigned. They were persuaded to return in exchange for a 35% stake in the company and guarantees of independence.
Founders
CLSA was founded by two former business journalists, Jim Walker (1949–2004) and Gary Coull (1954–2006). In September 2006, one month before he died, Coull was named one of the 50 most influential people in Asian financial history by FinanceAsiaFinanceAsia
FinanceAsia is a Hong Kong-based publication reporting on Asia’s financial and capital markets through a daily website and monthly magazine. At the end of 2005, FinanceAsia was acquired by Haymarket Group, the largest privately owned publishing company in the UK, created in part by Lord Heseltine,...
magazine.
Asset management
CLSA Capital Partners is the firm’s alternative asset-management arm and comprises 10 funds with more than US$2.5bn under management. The strategy is simple, according to Executive Chairman Richard Pyvis: ‘We invest in businesses we understand that are driven by domestic demand.’ The funds target growth companies, property and transport, buyout financing, mid-market buyouts and clean-tech opportunities.China Reality Research
Launched in 2006, China Reality Research independently monitors what is now the world's second-largest economy by collecting and analysing grassroots data from across the country. With a presence in about 100 cities, it tracks and reports on a vast range of activity, including core sectors such as banking, steel, real estate, resources, consumer goods and energy, as well as key macro trends such as food inflation, urbanisation and the rise of China’s middle class. CRR also conducts bespoke research for clients.CLSA U
A continually evolving executive-level education programme for the firm’s top clients, CLSA U provides unfiltered access to independent experts in a wide range of fields and specialities affecting investment decisions in the region. Over any 12 months, it offers some 75 courses in 22 locations around the world, attracting 4,500 enrolments. The syllabus focuses on the latest industry trends, investment theories and macro developments, but also includes personal-growth topics.Locations and staffing
With headquarters in Hong Kong, CLSA has offices or representatives in 19 other cities around the world: Sydney (Australia), Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen (China), Mumbai and Pune (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (Korea), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Port Louis (Mauritius), Manila (Philippines), Singapore (Singapore), Taipei (Taiwan), Bangkok (Thailand), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), London (United Kingdom), New York and San Francisco (United States of America). Its 1,850 staff include more than 150 analysts covering 1,200 Asian companies across 13 sectors.Ownership structure
CLSA is majority owned (65%) by Crédit Agricole, France’s largest retail-banking group, with the remainder held by staff.Notable regular publications
Asia Maxima (Christopher Wood)Bits & pieces (Damian Kestel)
Eye on Asian economies (Eric Fishwick)
GREED & fear (Christopher Wood)
Sinology (Andy Rothman)
Solid Ground (Russell Napier)
Key strategists
Christopher WoodDescribed by London’s Telegraph newspaper as ‘the first to predict the US sub-prime meltdown’, Christopher Wood is best known for his weekly GREED & fear newsletter. He’s been ranked No.1 Asian equities strategist every year since 2002 by either Asiamoney or Institutional Investor and usually by both. A former finance journalist with the Far Eastern Economic Review
Far Eastern Economic Review
The Far Eastern Economic Review was an English language Asian news magazine started in 1946. It printed its final issue in December 2009. The Hong Kong-based business magazine was originally published weekly...
and The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, Wood is also the author of Boom & Bust, The Bubble Economy and The End of Japan Inc. He also wrote the CLSA milestone research report, The Real Pacific Century: Asia’s Billion Boomers.
Andy Rothman
China Macro Strategist Andy Rothman, a former American diplomat, joined CLSA in 2000. Under the Sinology label, he writes analysis of economic and political trends on the mainland, as well as assessments of China's impact on regional economies. Rothman first went to China in 1980 as a student; he returned four years later as a diplomat, and focused on China for most of his 17 years with the US Foreign Service. He served as director of the Macroeconomic and Domestic Policy Office of the US Embassy in Beijing, and helped negotiate the normalisation of relations between the USA and Vietnam.
Eric Fishwick
One of only a handful of economists with first-hand experience of Japan’s deleveraging during the 1990s, plus the US Treasury and money markets, Eric Fishwick was named Asia’s top economist in 2009 by Asiamoney. Although his focus is China, Fishwick is an expert on Asian economies, and has 17 years’ experience in financial markets. Before that, he was a permanent advisor to the UK House of Commons. He holds a masters' degree in economics and a master of philosophy in international relations from the University of Cambridge.
Russell Napier
London-based consultant Russell Napier writes about issues and themes affecting global equity markets, under the Solid Ground label. Napier played a key role in the development and scope of CLSA’s equity research in his role as equity strategist from 1995-1999. He was ranked No.1 by both the Asiamoney and Institutional Investor polls from 1997 to 1999. Napier’s book Anatomy of the Bear was named the ‘investment read of the year’ in 2006 by the Financial Times.
Controversies
Securities and Futures Commission reprimand (May 2004)Asiamoney “vote-rigging” email (2005)
Allen Lam insider-trading conviction (July 2009)
CLSA Books
20 Years in Asia: Two decades of commitmentAnatomy of the Bear: Lessons from Wall Street’s four great bottoms, Russell Napier ISBN 9789628606795
Climb! The Pinstriped Backpack, Richard Pyvis ISBN 9789628606719
The Corruption of Capitalism: A strategy to rebalance the global economy and restore sustainable growth, Richard Duncan ISBN 9789889894245
Islam & Economics: A productive partnership?, Richard Pyvis & Phillip Braun ISBN 9789889894221
Mr & Mrs Asia: An extraordinary survey of an extraordinary region ISBN 9789889894207
New beginnings: After the tsunami: The rebuilding of Lamreh Village, Aceh, Isla Rogers-Winarto and Helen Vanwel
Tomorrow’s Gold: Asia’s age of discovery, Marc Faber ISBN 9789628606726
Sponsorships
CLSA Outward Bound Adventure RaceSingapore Slingers
Singapore Slingers
The Singapore Slingers are an Asian basketball team that formerly competed in the Australian National Basketball League. They were the first - and so far the only - Asia-based club to compete in the NBL when they joined at the start of the 2006/07 season....
CLSA sites
BlocSecChina Reality Research (requires subscription)
CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets
CLSA Capital Partners