Lovells has appointed former Linklaters counsel Vincent Sum to its finance practice citing an upturn in structured products and derivatives activity across the region.

Sum (pictured) comes on board as a consultant in the firm's Hong Kong office where he will service local and international finance clients across Hong Kong, China and Tokyo. The firm's head of banking in Hong Kong, Gary Hamp, said that while clients have cited improved sentiment in the market, the appointment is not a knee-jerk response.

"We're not trying to be reactive to a short term need; rather we're trying to put in place a very broad and solid foundation so that we're there for the long term," said Hamp. "Clients have been telling us that it's been a difficult market but that sentiment is definitely improving. I think the view is that markets are on the way up, but it's a long road."

Hamp said that the appointment is designed to build a full product range within the firm's finance practice. "Where previously we didn't really focus on structured products and the derivatives work–which is very much Vincent's space–we see this appointment as really rounding off the shape of our finance practice. Vincent's hire means we can...focus on winning work with our key clients particularly in the banking sector where there's been a demand for structured products and derivatives work."
 
Further expansion for the firm will be based "on good business rationale," added Hamp. "At the moment I think we have the building blocks in place. But we can see how the economy performs and build on those foundations as and when necessary."