HSBC
Private Bank has appointed Bala Balagopalan as managing director of its Global
South Asian Diaspora team in the
Far East. Mr
Balagopalan and his Hong Kong-based team will advise private clients from the
South Asian community in the region. 

“GSAD caters to the needs of the increasing
number of high net worth Global South Asians whose wealth is estimated to be in
excess of  US$1 trillion, of which US$500 billion is onshore in India,” Raj Parmar, the Global Head of the
GSAD team said in a statement.

The
appointment of Mr. Balagopalan, who previously headed up NRI North Asia at UBS,
is the first step in the regional expansion of the GSAD team, which targets the
wealthy client base of a large diaspora of Indian, Pakastani, Bangladeshi and
Sri Lanki origin. Mr. Balagopolan’s team is to increase to 24 by the end of the
year.

HSBC
Private Bank’s GSAD team is comprised of 110 staff in nine locations. GSAD has
regional offices in
India, North
America, the
UK,
Switzerland, Channel Islands,
Dubai,
Luxembourg,
South Africa,
Singapore
and
Hong Kong. 

The bank’s
onshore business extends to six Indian regions with expansion throughout the
country planned for the future. 

“HSBC Private Bank's strategy is to go onshore
where suitable opportunities arise and where we believe that we can bring value
through such activities” Mr Parmar told Wealthbriefing.

The bank reported assets under
management of £14,241million for the first half of 2008.