By Summer Zhen
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Jane Street, one of the world’s largest quant trading firms and market makers, is planning a sharp increase in Hong Kong office space, two people familiar with the matter said.
The New York-based firm is negotiating with landlord Hongkong Land to lease two more floors at Chater House, an office tower in the business district of Central, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
If the deal materialises, Jane Street will occupy six floors of the 30-storey building, totalling over 110,000 sq ft of office space, compared to just 2.5 floors a year ago.
Jane Street and Hongkong Land declined to comment.
Despite rising Sino-U.S. tensions, China has regained popularity as an investment destination and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 15% in the first quarter. Average daily turnover shot to $28 billion for the first two months of 2025, a 70% jump from the same time last year, data shows.
Citadel Securities and Tower Research Capital have also been recruiting and expanding their offices in Hong Kong.
Jane Street employs 400 people in the city, one of the people said, adding its Hong Kong-based team covers not only mainland China and Hong Kong but also Japan, Singapore and Australia.
It is hiring for more than 40 roles in Hong Kong, the firm’s website shows.
Known for high-frequency trading and its dominance of the exchange traded funds market, Jane Street has seen explosive growth in recent years. It is a registered market maker on the Hong Kong bourse and was approved to trade yuan-denominated shares in Hong Kong in 2023.
The firm earned around $6.1 billion in the first half of 2024, nearly double that of the same period a year earlier, Bloomberg reported.
Jane Street plans to take the two floors used by Point72 Asset Management, according to one of the people.
Point72 is moving out because it wants more office space, local media have said. The U.S. hedge fund did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Summer Zhen; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Edwina Gibbs)
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