--Meredith Lepore
Auerbach Grayson, a New York-based brokerage firm that specializes in global trade execution, is looking to expand on its brokerage partnerships in countries including South Africa, Kenya and Mongolia as part of its global emerging market push. It has launched a global resource sales desk that will focus on the metals and mining, giving the firm the opportunity to use its partnerships in these areas for in depth research on the metal & mining industry.
According to a Research and Markets report, Africa produces more than 60 metal and mineral products and is a major producer of several of the world’s most important minerals and metals. South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of gold and platinum and one of the leading producers of base metals and coal. The mining industry is also South Africa’s biggest employer. The desk will eventually move to other countries with significant metal & mining exploration, said Johnathan Auerbach, managing director and co-founder. He added that metals & mining were very strong in other parts of Asia besides Mongolia.
The desk will encourage broker partners to hire local expert analysts who can provide the best research. “This is going to be an important sector over the next few years. We want to level the global playing field,” said Auerbach. According to a recent Fraser Institute 2008/2009 survey $3.4 billion was spent on mining exploration worldwide compared with $3.02 billion in 2007. The firm has hired Paul Durham to be head of the new desk. Durham has a strong following and is an expert in the field, said Auerbach. He was senior v.p. of specialist sector sales in the global resources group of HSBC Securities.
The firm also plans to form new broker partners in Syria and Iran eventually. Auerbach recently expanded into India and Iraq as part of its emerging markets endeavor (WSL Online, 6/25). The firm currently covers more than 128 developed, emerging and frontier equity markets globally.