Nasdaq-listed Marex plans more acquisitions, with new Japan office to expand Asia-Pacific presence

[SINGAPORE] Nasdaq-listed global financial services platform Marex is stepping up its focus on the Asia-Pacific with plans to open an office in Japan this year.

The London-based firm was founded in 2005 and listed on the Nasdaq in 2024. Marex provides liquidity, market access and infrastructure services to clients in the energy, commodities and financial markets. 

Its four key business segments include clearing services on 60 regulated exchanges – including the Singapore Exchange – agency and execution, market making, and hedging and investment solutions. 

Amid increasing geopolitical uncertainty, the company has been “more proactive” with clients, Arthur Fan, Asia-Pacific chief executive officer of Marex, told The Business Times in an interview. 

He cited the company’s efforts to initiate conversations with clients in advance to determine what actions should be taken for their portfolios amid heightened volatility. 

“I think (being proactive) is very important given the current market sentiment. With lots of uncertainty, extreme movements seem like they are happening all the time,” said Fan. 

He remarked: “At the end of the day, we do not want anything bad to happen to our clients, because that reflects on us as well. So that’s why we take a more proactive approach to build trust.”

Acquisitions for synergy and growth

Marex’s first move in the Asia-Pacific region was to open a Hong Kong office in January 2011. It started with a metals business before expanding into equities, investment products and prime brokerage.

“We also leverage our Hong Kong presence as a stepping stone to mainland China and to support North Asian countries,” said Fan.

Later in 2011, Marex expanded to Singapore – its Asia-Pacific headquarters – after acquiring Spectron Group, a global broker of wholesale energy and other commodity products.

Since then, Marex has expanded its presence in the region, opening offices in Australia in 2021 and New Zealand in 2024.

Meanwhile, the hybrid financial services company has over 40 offices globally, with a strong presence in the Emea (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region and the Americas, which accounted for 56 per cent and 36 per cent of its revenue in 2024, respectively. Apac accounted for the remaining 8 per cent of revenue.

Marex’s Apac revenue has more than quadrupled from US$27 million in 2021 to US$131 million in 2024 – outpacing growth in other regions. 

On challenges in the region, Fan reckons that markets in Asia-Pacific are “very fragmented”. Hence, the company’s expansion strategy includes acquiring local businesses with relevant regulatory licences, infrastructure and resources to shorten its time to market, the Apac CEO added.

“We mainly use organic growth but we have a merger and acquisition strategy. At this stage, I feel that we are ready to have more acquisitions in the region,” said Fan. 

Over the past six to eight years, the company has completed acquisitions every year, he noted.

“For acquisitions, we don’t just want to buy profit and loss. We would like to hopefully acquire businesses that can have synergy with our existing business or that can help our business to grow even further,” said Fan. 

Meanwhile, Marex plans to open its next Asia-Pacific office in Japan. This follows the establishment of a petrochemical team in Tokyo in August 2025 with plans of trading physical cargoes of petrochemical products. 

Fan said the expansion aims to grow the firm’s existing equity brokerage business in the country through an onshore presence. 

He added that Marex currently clears “quite a significant market share” of European Energy Exchange contracts and hopes to expand the company’s participation in execution, clearing and trading in Japan.

“From a commodities perspective...Asia-Pacific does have the potential to build a very sizeable business for a firm like Marex,” said Fan. “Hopefully, Asia-Pacific can be the next growth engine for the firm.”

“Controlled growth”

The Apac CEO highlighted the company’s “entrepreneurial mindset” and lean structure, which enables it to remain agile compared to its larger competitors.

The hybrid financial services company beat analysts’ expectations for the fourth-quarter ended Dec 31, 2025, with a 38 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to US$572.1 million. Adjusted profit before tax rose 41 per cent to US$114.9 million.

“Revenue for all four segments came in higher than expected on the strong market environment and growing engagement with larger clients,” wrote UBS Global Research in a note on Mar 3.

UBS gave Marex a “buy” rating with a 12-month target price of US$56. Meanwhile, Barclays Equity Research maintained its “overweight” rating on the company with a US$50 price target in a Mar 4 research note. Marex closed 0.3 per cent or US$0.12 higher at US$35 on Friday (Mar 13).

Fan described his strategy of balancing big growth targets with risk management as “controlled growth”.

“The most important thing for me is that we never try to grow by sacrificing our risk management,” he said. “We would like to grow as much as possible, but the fundamental bottom line is that we do not want to take unreasonable risks.”