LONDON: US bank Citigroup is targeting market-share gains in equities in 2015, its European head of equities told Reuters, pointing to fresh technology investment and new hires as financial-market trading picks up.
The comments echo a more optimistic stance from trading desks at global investment banks after a bumper quarter boosted by the European Central Bank's announcement of a bond-buying scheme to spur growth.
"We are not pulling back in equities -- quite the opposite," Tim Gately said in an interview. "We continuously invest in technology, have made a number of senior hires and expect to grow our market and wallet share in 2015."
First-quarter equities revenue grew at double-digit percentage rates for a number of US banks including Morgan Stanley and J.P.Morgan, though Citi bucked the trend with a one-percent decline in the quarter.
Trading conditions for the industry are set to stay positive, said Gately, thanks to near-zero yields in much of the bond market that made equities more attractive to investors.
"The first quarter was not just a blip (for the industry)," he said.
Citi management said in the fourth quarter it would "take actions" to turn around its underperforming EMEA equities franchise. Last month the bank announced it had hired Murray Roos as its new London-based global head of sales for equities and prime finance.
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