(Bloomberg) -- 22V Research, the New York-based firm co-founded by Dennis Debusschere, hired three executives to open an office in Sao Paulo that will serve as a hub for Latin America.
Alejandro Rebelo, the former head of Latin America for Canaccord Genuity Group Inc., joined 22V to take on the same role there. Two others came aboard to lead the Latin America sales and trading desk: Bruno Stuani, previously a director at brokerage and asset-management firm Genial Investimentos; and Ricardo Rosa, who had stints in equity sales and trading at Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS Group AG.
Stuani and Rosa will report to Rebelo and work in a temporary office until next year, when the firm plans to open a permanent outpost.
“Over the last few years, I’ve connected with Brazilian money managers,” Debusschere, who’s president of the company, said in an interview. “I was very excited about the opportunity and the growth of the industry, because I think our macro research is very attractive to a lot of Brazilian clients.”
The nation’s fund industry posted net inflows of 253.6 billion reais ($45 billion) this year through September, pushing total assets to 9.37 trillion reais, according to the capital-markets association Anbima. Of those, 1.58 trillion reais are managed by hedge funds.
22V, which now has 34 employees, was founded in January 2022 by a group of former analysts from Evercore ISI, including Debusschere. It has a brokerage firm, 22V Securities, and 10 research products, including ones focused on US and China macroeconomic trends and quantitative and derivative research.
The firm’s name is a nod to Dave Debusschere, Dennis’s father, who wore number 22 when he played basketball for the New York Knicks. The “V” stands for “victory.”
Hiring Plans
“I was excited about Brazil, then through a connection I met Alejandro and realized that we could take this to a whole other level by being local, having a team down there and selling our research to those clients,” Debusschere said.
The new team is just the “the kickoff,” Rebelo said in an interview, because “we’re going to need to add people as as we grow.”
The plan is to recruit at least a couple of sales executives in Brazil, and then, in three to six months, “we’re going to start talking to Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica,” Rebelo said, adding that the firm will need about seven people in total to cover Latin America.
Brazilian money managers that invest in the US, or are just trying to understand the nation’s interest-rate policy, are important clients of 22V, Debusschere said, adding that its China research effort has also been gaining traction.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.