UBS and HSBC are among the European banks looking to hire for their prime brokerage teams in Asia, where a record number of new hedge funds launched last year, according to people familiar with the situation.

In an internal memo sent to staff on August 19, UBS said Lai Man Wong had joined the bank's prime brokerage sales team as an executive director based in Hong Kong. She joins from Deutsche Bank and will focus on origination and relationship management with hedge funds across Asia Pacific.