London 25/08/2015 - RJ O'Brien is looking to expand its London base metals desk following its recent approval as a Category Two member of the London Metal Exchange (LME).
“[We are] looking to build a team and increase our presence - I think we could add quite a lot of value to the metals markets," David Mudie, CEO of RJ O'Brien in Europe, said in an interview with FastMarkets on Tuesday.
"There is no headcount, no target - it's very much about finding the right people, right time, right connections," he said.
The company began trading as a Cat 2 member on August 14 in what it believes was a natural progression following demand from existing clients, which comprise of a mix of commercial hedgers, CTAs and retail.
"[We] service a lot of CTAs and they have very diverse portfolios and a big portion of that is metals so really, with the growth plans we have in Europe, this was a natural step," he said.
Despite funds exiting the metal sphere due to the rout in commodity prices - many of the base metals are trading near multi-year lows - Mudie was confident that business would remain robust.
"We still see demand from our clients across the sector, obviously we have been watching the market events very closely… because we have a traditional client base of hedging and commodity exposure, it is not something that has diminished. We have CTAs that have positions across every single listed derivative so that is quite constant for us," he said.
Category two members have all the privileges of ring dealing members except they may not trade in the ring. They can issue LME contracts – buying and selling material for their clients. They are also members of the clearing house; it was this access to clearing that attracted RJ O'Brien to this level of membership.
"We have high hopes - [the LME] fits with our client base and the type of business we have built up over 100 years," Mudie said.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)