JPMorgan names Li as China equity research head in new role

[HONG KONG] JPMorgan Chase & Co.appointed Karen Li as head of China equity research in a newly created position as it expands coverage of the world's second-biggest economy.

Li will report to James Sullivan, chief of equity research for Asia ex-Japan, JPMorgan said in a statement today. Li, who joined the investment bank in 2005, will also retain her duties as Hong Kong-based head of Asia infrastructure and industrials research. The financial-services provider is continuing to broaden analysis of mainland and Hong Kong-traded Chinese companies, Sullivan said in an interview.

"It's about the normaliSation of the China market and the incremental investment opportunity and asset reallocation that we are likely to see to China over the course of the next five to 10 years," Mr Sullivan said. "The absolutely critical markets for us in Asia continue to be China and India because of the structural reforms that we're seeing in India as well as the normalisation of both the China and Indian markets."

Surging demand for equities sent the Shanghai Composite Index up 114 per cent in the past 12 months through yesterday, while a measure of mainland companies traded in Hong Kong jumped 46 per cent amid record trading volume on the city's bourse.

JPMorgan, the biggest US investment bank by assets, last week reported first-quarter profit rose 12 per cent from a year earlier as revenue from trading stocks and bonds climbed for the first time since 2010.

BLOOMBERG