Index Arbitrage Trading Lead
Responsibilities
- Lead the build-out of a new index arbitrage trading desk in Hong Kong, including strategy design, execution framework, risk controls, and operational processes.
- Trade index arbitrage strategies across cash equities, futures, ETFs, swaps, baskets, and other related equity index products.
- Identify and execute relative value opportunities across regional indices, futures, ETFs, constituent baskets, and related derivatives.
- Develop systematic and discretionary trading strategies to capture pricing inefficiencies, basis opportunities, rebalance flows, corporate actions, and market dislocations.
- Manage trading book risk, including market risk, basis risk, liquidity risk, execution risk, funding cost, and counterparty exposure.
- Build and maintain pricing, risk monitoring, execution, and analytics tools in partnership with technology and quantitative teams.
- Work with sales, prime brokerage, financing, and securities lending teams to support borrow, funding, inventory, and balance sheet requirements.
- Partner with operations, middle office, compliance, and risk management to ensure trading activity is properly controlled and aligned with internal governance standards.
- Monitor index events, ETF flows, futures rolls, market microstructure, corporate actions, and regional regulatory developments affecting trading opportunities.
- Recruit, mentor, and develop junior traders, analysts, or trading support staff as the business grows.
- Provide senior management with regular updates on desk performance, risk exposure, business development, and strategic growth opportunities.
Requirements
- Demonstrated experience trading index arbitrage, delta one, ETF arbitrage, program trading, statistical arbitrage, or closely related equity derivatives strategies.
- Proven track record of generating trading P&L within a bank, securities firm, proprietary trading firm, hedge fund, or market-making platform.
- Strong understanding of Asian equity markets, index products, futures, ETFs, swaps, baskets, corporate actions, and trading mechanics.
- Experience managing trading risk across multiple markets, products, and execution channels.
- Ability to build a trading desk or strategy from an early-stage platform, including systems, workflows, controls, and stakeholder management.
- Strong quantitative, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret market data and design trading models or signals.
- Familiarity with electronic trading platforms, execution algorithms, market data tools, and risk systems.
- Strong understanding of funding, borrow, securities lending, margin, and balance sheet considerations relevant to index arbitrage trading.
- Commercial mindset with the ability to scale a profitable trading business while maintaining disciplined risk management.
- Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively with senior management, risk, technology, compliance, operations, and external counterparties.
- Fluency in English and Mandarin preferred.
- SFC license holder, or eligible to obtain the necessary regulatory licenses in Hong Kong.
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