UBS to raise India investment bank staff

By Rina Chandran

MUMBAI (Reuters) - UBS will nearly double its investment banking staff in India to up to 180 in the next year as it prepares to offer more services and retain its share of the increasingly competitive business, the head of UBS in India said.

UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) tops the merger and advisory table so far this year, up from seventh spot last year, data from Thomson Financial showed, leapfrogging rivals including Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), JPMorgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Merrill Lynch (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

"Our challenge and our desire is to remain among the top three investment banks in India," Manisha Girotra, managing director and chairperson for UBS India, told the Reuters India Investment Summit on Thursday.

"It's becoming a very competitive market, with big investment banks all hiring people and going after the same market share. So it's hard to keep your share ... it's like being on a treadmill and the incline gets steeper," she said.

UBS ranks seventh this year in Indian equity capital raising, according to Dealogic, and competition among investment banks was fierce, with low fees and many deals crowded with several underwriters, Girotra said.

"You just have to do a lot of deals to make your bread," she said, adding that M&A advisory still offered good money.

The competition extended to staffing. Hiring and retention of talent were the biggest challenges, Girotra said, and took up 30-40 percent of her time.

UBS, which employs about 1,600 people in India now, will increase its broking and investment banking team in India from 100 now, Girotra said, and add 1,000 people to its offshoring facility that services its U.S. and European operations.

STAGGERING WEALTH

Indian companies have announced $22.3 billion worth of outbound acquisitions this year, Thomson Financial data show, approaching last year's record $24 billion.

UBS has advised on deals including Vodafone's (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) purchase of Hutchison Whampoa's (0013.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) controlling stake in an Indian mobile services firm for $11 billion and Hindalco's (HALC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $6 billion buy of Canada's Novelis.

A global credit crunch has not curbed the appetite of Indian firms aiming for a more global profile, said Girotra, who earlier headed the investment bank arm of Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in India.

Instead, there may be a greater number of smaller deals and a change in the way that deals are financed, she said.

"It obviously can't continue the way it has ... the kind of targets and the kind of financing may be restricted," she said.

"What we will see is an increased number of smaller deals, and activity across the spectrum, not just large companies."  Continued...