A conversation with Riad Chowdhury, Head of Asia-Pacific

When Riad joined MarketAxess as Head of APAC in September 2020, he entered what he describes as a near-startup environment, albeit with the support of a publicly traded company, so “I didn’t have to worry about paying rent or the team’s salaries,” he jokes. Five years later, the buildout of the APAC region of MarketAxess has been nothing short of remarkable.

What began as a 10-person team has grown into a 30-strong regional powerhouse, with an average daily volume (ADV) CAGR of 30% and a revenue CAGR of 21% (excluding our China offering)—which are several multiples of where the business was when he joined. Today, MarketAxess serves a diverse client base, including asset managers, hedge funds, private banks, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and banks, with every major buy-side and sell-side firm participating on our platform now.

Riad brought with him a dual background in technology and fixed income sales & trading, having worked in global markets businesses across banks including Deutsche, ANZ, and Standard Chartered. He had long been a client of MarketAxess before joining, even leveraging the platform during his time at ANZ to connect with global clients. Over the years, he informally consulted with MarketAxess leaders on Asia product development, often sharing ideas with colleagues visiting from New York or London. “Simply put, I saw this role as the ideal blend of my tech background and my sales and trading experience,” he says.

Riad has successfully built the APAC business as a microcosm of the larger New York and London offices—fully aligned in vision and purpose yet fundamentally structured to meet the unique demands of the APAC market. This approach is grounded in a strategic framework that emphasizes cross collaboration across functions and leverages deep local expertise. It’s a framework that not only drives operational excellence but also empowered Riad to assemble a strong, autonomous regional team.

“We have all the key functions here—sales, product, client services, compliance, legal, marketing, credit analysis, and more,” Riad explains. “Building that out has been one of the most fulfilling parts of the job.”

He attributes the growth of the APAC office to a careful focus on the most relevant products for the region: Asian local markets bonds, Asia hard currency bonds, and US investment grade (USIG) bonds. “In Singapore, the local markets ecosystem dominates, while Hong Kong still has significant Asia credit presence. And USIG is largely a Taiwan, Japan, Korea story,” Riad explains.

He describes the APAC business as a Venn diagram: product, client segment, and country. This framework has been crucial given Asia's complexity, which requires a constant 360-degree view of the market landscape to identify the best risk-reward opportunities.

Since Riad joined MarketAxess, key product milestones have included several major launches and innovations. "I was here when we properly built out RFM for local markets," Riad notes, referring to the successful rollout of our Request-for-Market protocol across the region. Under his leadership, the team also launched and distributed Korean Treasury Bonds and Chinese Government Bonds, which remains one of the biggest markets today in APAC, as well as the first fully electronic Indian Government Bonds (IGB) trading workflow.

For Riad, one of the biggest lessons has been recognizing the complexity of APAC markets. “There is no such thing as ‘Asia,’” he says. “Every country is unique, with its own regulator and market structure. It’s very different from the UK, Europe, or the US, where you have much more regulatory consistency given the smaller number of regulators.” 

Regulation is a constant puzzle. From discussions with policymakers on data practices to navigating new licensing applications in certain countries, Riad has found himself working at the intersection of finance, technology, and policy. “This role has a huge regulatory component that I had limited experience in having come from a trading desk.”

Client behavior also differs from other regions. Having personally covered and traded with clients in Asia, Europe, and the US for many years, patterns began to emerge in terms of client engagement.

As a leader, Riad emphasizes that people are at the heart of everything. “The single most important quality I look for is grit,” he explains. “What we’re doing at MarketAxess represents a fundamental shift in how trading is done—a behavior change that’s incredibly hard because people have been trading the same way for decades. At a big bank, success can sometimes be taken for granted, backed by a successful franchise. But here in APAC, we’re constantly swimming against the current. It requires a different kind of resilience and determination.”

This resilience is paired with deep expertise: Riad has been intentional about who he has brought onto his team. He’s careful to hire people who understand both the financial and technological sides of the business —essential for navigating the complexities of the local markets they serve. “We have to understand the ‘fin’ to know what and how to build the ‘tech.'" The caliber of hires demonstrates how the perception of MarketAxess in APAC has evolved. “When I first joined, many were hesitant to leave established firms for electronic trading. Today, the caliber of talent we attract speaks volumes about how far we’ve come.”

Riad also invests deeply in culture. He emphasizes giving the team a strong sense of purpose and the confidence that comes with success. “To be successful here, everybody needs an internal combustion engine,” he says. “After a while, a job is just a job. But if you’re succeeding, if you’re building something together, that’s what fuels people.”

Riad’s approach to leadership goes beyond results—he’s deeply invested in cultivating a culture where people can grow and thrive. He created an environment where it’s okay to fail (ideally, quickly) and learn from mistakes that can be applied to the next iteration of the challenges we face. “The short-term trade-off is worth it because the impact on resilience and confidence within the team is invaluable,” he says. “Confidence is the secret sauce of performance.”

He also experiments with different management styles, believing that effective leadership means adapting to each individual’s way of working. “A manager isn’t one-size-fits-all and the days of everyone in the team adapting to the leader’s management style are long gone,” Riad explains. “You need to understand your people and refine your approach to bring out their best—and in doing so, achieve the best outcomes for the business.”

At the core of his philosophy is a simple yet powerful principle: listen more than you talk. Whether engaging with his team or with clients, Riad believes that truly listening is the key to building trust, understanding needs, and driving success.

Riad is quick to point out that while the strategy for APAC is clear, execution is the key for the next phase of growth. The approach remains iterative: deliver results, secure more resources, reinvest, and build again. “I didn’t come in with a five-year vision or North Star,” Riad reflects. “It’s more about the power of tiny gains. Every day we do something a little better, and over time, the results compound dramatically...and we’re seeing this positive fly-wheel effect in our business.”

Five years in, Riad says he has never worked harder—or enjoyed work more. “There are no Monday morning blues,” he laughs. “My days are incredibly diverse. From client meetings, to “geeking out” on new product design, to speaking with regulators, to speaking with media as a thought leader, to my weekly catch ups with the team—it’s all part of the job. It’s the most fulfilling role I’ve ever had.”

With APAC now representing a growing chunk of the broader MarketAxess business, the foundation is set for the next phase of growth.