Hedge Fund QRT Taking Six UBS Floors in Hong Kong’s IFC as Quant Traders Expand

London-based Qube Research and Trading has agreed to take up six floors in Hong Kong’s IFC, with the deal marking the second-largest office lease in the city’s Central district in the past decade, ranking behind a June deal announced by competitor Jane Street.

QRT is leasing a total of 140,000 square feet (13,006 square metres) in tower two of the IFC complex from Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation, which owns 18 floors in the building and pointed to the agreement as a sign of the building’s compelling value proposition.

“Two IFC is a landmark Grade-A commercial tower strategically positioned atop a major railway and transport hub,” David Tang, MTR’s property and international business director said in a statement. He added that, “This not only underscores the property’s geographical and strategic advantages but also demonstrates the confidence of the financial investment sector in the development of Hong Kong’s business.”

QRT’s commitment fits into a flurry of office leases by quantitative traders in Hong Kong’s traditional commercial hub in recent months, even as investment banks that had once claimed Central district as their home turf have spread out into alternative locations.

Hong Kong Office Market Levels Off

With Two IFC at close to full occupancy, QRT will be moving from its current home in the Central Tower on Queen’s Road into its new space in phases, starting from 2027, as the current occupant of the floors, UBS, moves into a Sun Hung Kai Properties project being developed above the high speed rail terminus in West Kowloon.

UBS had signed on as an anchor tenant in Two IFC in 2003 and will now consolidate its team into 250,000 square feet in the West Kowloon project. Net effective rents for offices in top Central locations averaged HK$92 per square foot per month in November, according to Cushman & Wakefield, with one analyst estimating QRT would be paying around HK$108 per square foot in Two IFC, with a rent free period of eight months putting the net effective rent at around HK$90 per square foot.

Net effective rents in West Kowloon currently average HK$28.5 per square foot, according to the property consultancy.

“Around 66 percent of Grade A office leasing volume (this year) has been driven by demand from the FIREBS sector,” said Sam Gourlay, head of office leasing advisory at JLL in Hong Kong, referring to companies from the finance, insurance, real estate and business services industries.

He added that, “These tenants, with high affordability (sic), are prioritising premium Grade A buildings in core Central that offer large floor plates, top-tier amenities, and direct MTR connectivity.” 

With new commercial projects in Central, such as The Henderson, now close to fully leased, average office rents in the district’s prime buildings rose 2.5 percent from 30 September through the end of November, according to Cushman & Wakefield, which is expecting leasing rates in the submarket to rise by 3-5 percent next year after gaining just 0.4 percent this year.

While leasing rates in Central levelled off this year, average rents in the district’s prime buildings are down nearly 45 percent from their January 2019 peak of HK$166.1 per square foot, per the agency’s data. 

Quants Expand

With the company relying on data and technology to automate investing, QRT is known for high frequency trading on short term bets and fits into a wave of firms from the sector expanding their Hong Kong footprints. The company’s IFC lease represents a 194 percent increase from its Hong Kong footprint at the beginning of this year, according to data from Knight Frank.

QRT’s business model resembles the approach taken by Jane Street, the US securities trader which in June this year agreed to lease 223,437 square feet in a Henderson Land project now known as Central Yards, which is located along the Central waterfront next to the IFC complex. Jane Street, which currently leases space in Hongkong Land’s Chater House in Central, will occupy six floors in Central Yards when it relocates there in 2027. 

QRT is committing to big space in Two IFC after agreeing earlier this year to take four more floors in Central Tower, with the company, which was spun off from Credit Suisse in 2018, also having Asia offices in Shanghai, Mumbai and Singapore.

“In 2025, hedge fund activities accounted for 18.0 percent of leasing volume (including new letting, expansion and renewal), amounting to almost half a million sq ft of office space,” said JLL senior director of research, Cathie Chung.

In February, quant trader Point72 agreed to lease 55,000 square feet across four floors at Henderson Land’s The Henderson on Murray Road in Central, with the company led by US fund manager Steve Cohen said to have upped that commitment later in the year to around 85,000 square feet, representing a 162 percent increase from its current footprint in Chater House. 

In October, another quantitative trading firm, IMC Group of the Netherlands, agreed to lease 16,900 square feet in Two IFC, according to Cushman & Wakefield.