Peregrine's last days, by Andre Lee
First start in investment banking
Pioneering the Asian bond business
Building the business at Peregrine
How did you refine the geographical focus of the business at Peregrine? Towards the middle of 1996 I came to the conclusion that we had built a base of business and now it was time to begin to transform ourselves away from being an offshore banker to south-east Asia and towards being a banker in the domestic markets. More importantly, however, to begin to steer our ship towards the larger bond markets of Asia. Korea, Indonesia, China and India should be the four bases upon which our business ultimately rested. So in 1996 we finally began to do what all the country managers had been asking me to do from the day we joined that bank: that is, we began to open desks in the local offices.
Previously, you had been handling things in Hong Kong and Singapore?
Yes, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Did that mean hiring lots more people?
Yes. Now we were truly making a long-term commitment for the first time.