Hedge Fund Boom Persuades Bradesco to Create a Prime Brokerage

Banco Bradesco SA, Brazil’s second-biggest bank by market value, is starting a prime brokerage to serve the nation’s booming hedge fund industry.

Services include securities lending, leveraged trade executions and cash management, according to Marcelo Noronha, a vice president responsible for wholesale banking at the Osasco-based company. The operation also provides custody services and daily account statements, Noronha said.

“We unified all the services to investment funds into one single unit, including traditional banking services, in order to have a better relationship with them,” Noronha said in an interview. “We are expanding the team to serve those institutional ...