Julius Baer has appointed Alan Hooks to lead its three-strong UK wealth and tax planning team, based in London.

Hooks joins Julius Baer from Lloyds Private Banking London, where he was head of UK wealth structuring solutions. With more than fifteen years’ experience in wealth management, focusing on wealth preservation, succession planning and tax-led structures, he spent six years at HSBC Private Bank, where he was a director.

In his new role, Hooks will focus on developing the bank’s wealth and tax planning platform for clients of the London office. He will report to Jeremy Brown, head of investment solutions group UK.

In other recent developments, earlier in the month Julius Baer strengthened its presence in the German market with the opening of a new office in Mannheim, through its Frankfurt-headquartered subsidiary bank, Julius Bär Europe.

Julius Baer’s total client assets amounted to SFr304 billion (around $333 billion) at the end of June 2013, with assets under management accounting for SFr218 billion.