FastMatch snatches Beacroft from Hotspot in Asia

FastMatch has hired Trent Beacroft away from rival Bats Hotspot, as the foreign exchange platform pushes ahead with plans to expand its sales distribution to Asia, FX Week has exclusively learned.

Beacroft begins his new role as managing director of sales on February 1, based in Singapore. He will be responsible for targeting the institutional platform's products to Tier 1 Asian banks, hedge funds, brokers and asset managers.

Beacroft reports to FastMatch's global head of sales, Paul Ainsworth.

"This is our first hire in Asia and we are planning to hire more. [The hope is] to have two or three people in Asia by the end of the year," says Dmitri Galinov, chief executive of FastMatch.

While there is no concrete solution yet as to where the other planned hires will be located, Australia and China are under consideration.

Dmitri Galinov

In December, Galinov told FX Week the ECN planned to expand into Asia in a bid for market share, and to take advantage of personnel turnover and reshuffling at its competitors. With a matching engine already in Asia, Galinov said it was simply a matter of hiring salespeople to help distribute the brand and build its presence in the region.

Beacroft is a key hire for FastMatch, as he spent the last eight years as head of Asia-Pacific for Hotspot/Bats Global Markets. There, he oversaw product sales, distribution and development.

Before Hotspot, Beacroft held several senior sales and trading roles in FX and rates at other institutions throughout Asia-Pacific. He got his start with Westpac in Sydney and served as a chief dealer.