Markets Media spoke with Kelly Wang, Head of FICC Sales and Relationship Management APAC (Ex-Japan), Citadel Securities, who won Excellence in Fixed Income at the 2025 Women in Finance Asia Awards.

What does this award mean to you, and how does it reflect the work you’ve led at Citadel Securities?

First of all, it is a true honor to be considered and win the “Excellence in Fixed Income” category. And more importantly, this recognition allowed me to take a moment to look back at what my team at Citadel Securities have achieved in the past five years, and to remind myself the tremendous opportunities ahead of us.

Everything I learned and experienced in the past five years, ranging from leveraging Citadel Securities’ global resources to build our institutional client business from ground up in Hong Kong to scaling our business to cover the entire APAC region, gave me and my team the first-hand experience that we need to take our business to the next level of growth. I know, in the next five years, I will have much more to look forward to.

What have been some of the most defining shifts in the fixed income space in Asia over the past few years?

Citadel Securities is one of very few non-bank liquidity providers in the fixed income space. When our firm first stepped into the U.S. Treasury and dollar rate swap space, we had to work extra hard to prove our capability and constantly deliver the best execution for our clients to build trust and credibility. Now, we are an integral and reliable partner to many of the world’s largest central banks, global financial institutions, corporations and sovereign wealth funds.

Similarly, when we first started in Hong Kong in 2020, trading with a non-bank partner wasn’t very common. However, in the past few years, large institutions in Asia have grown much more accustomed to non-traditional liquidity providers like Citadel Securities. Our ability to provide consistent and competitive pricing through all market conditions and our high-touch approach to client services have been a key differentiator that changed the way institutional investors think about us.

Fixed income markets are undergoing rapid transformation with the rise of electronic trading, regulatory changes, and increased demand for liquidity. How is Citadel Securities positioning itself to lead through these changes, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region?

First, when we talk about Asia-Pacific, I want to emphasize the diversity and complexity of the region. The number of markets and the varied levels of development of each market require global firms like Citadel Securities to have deep local knowledge to understand what our clients in each of these markets need.

Then we combine our local knowledge with world-leading technology and quantitative research to provide our clients competitive and firm pricing, as well as exceptional execution experience.

Looking at the evolution of the equities and options markets, the rise of electronic trading within the fixed income space will continue, which will no doubt improve market efficiency and benefit all market participants. 

What’s your approach to client partnership in a world where both speed and precision are critical?

We take speed and precision very seriously in general and that applies to everything we do, not just client business. What differentiates us from our peers is not just how quickly we can bring the most competitive and firm price to our clients, but also the offering of timely and deep market insights. We regularly make our own analysis and the best thought leaders available to our clients who can benefit from some fresh perspectives, which in return help us strengthen the partnerships with our clients. 

What do you believe differentiates truly great sales leaders in fixed income—and how do you bring that mindset to your team?

Two things I want to highlight. One, I believe in listening. Listening to our clients directly helps us understand their needs, the markets they are in, how we can improve our work for them, and what else we can do. Listening to my team helps me learn from them and demonstrates to them the importance of listening. I always remind myself that we need to listen more than we sell.

Two, having a problem-solving mindset is important for our clients. Our clients probably won’t remember all the trades we executed for them, but they will always remember the solutions we found to address their problems.

How do you personally maintain clarity, motivation, and energy—both inside and outside of work?

I always keep a short list of things that require and deserve my focus the most, so that I know I need to go deep on these things and do them well. This applies to work and my life outside the office.

I also enjoy keeping a simple routine that involves my most favorite things in life, whether it’s sports or art, so it’s never too complicated and I always have something to look forward to.