Joseph Poon says that this time last year many of the potential hires he is now talking to would never have taken his call.

Joseph Poon says that this time last year many of the potential hires he is now talking to would never have taken his call.
 
“They were coming off a bull market, they were doing well, their clients were doing well and the market was helpful,” says Sinapore-based Mr Poon, the head of Macquarie Bank’s new operation, Macquarie Private Wealth Asia.
 
“But now that the market is coming off they are being a bit more discerning about what platform is going to be good for their careers long term, and we are finding that a lot of these people are questioning their own viability in their organisations which are now in a weakened state.”
 
Where some would see only a market downturn and falling returns, Macquarie sees an opportunity. Australia’s leading investment bank has just launched its Macquarie Private Wealth Asia start-up and Mr Poon says the current market is an opportunity to recruit staff in a sector notorious in South-East Asia for its skills shortage and poaching.
 
“I think many of the top private bankers are now open to talk to firms such as ourselves,” says Mr Poon, who comes to Macquarie after a sting as head of JPMorgan Chase’s private bank in South Asia.
 
“These people understand that what clients are looking for in the ultra high net worth space is not really being delivered in a pragmatic way right now.”
 
Macquarie’s focus is on ultra high net worth clients with financial assets of around US$50 million, and in Asia this usually means targeting family wealth.
 
“In Asia 95 per cent of businesses are owned by families so all roads lead to families,” says Mr Poon.
 
“And I think this means that the Asian offering needs to be broader and deeper, because a lot of this wealth - being family wealth has been around for a longer time.”
 
Macquarie’s point of differentiation, says Mr Poon, is in the advisory area. He says that historically private banking in Asia has been based around products, and not advice, and this is where Macquarie is leveraging its investment banking expertise to deliver to ultra high net worth individuals in the targeted “sweet spot”.
 
“What most Asian private banks tend to do is have a large number of relationship managers but a very small number of investment advisors,” says Mr Poon.
 
“We recognise the need for clients to have access to highly experienced investment professionals and our model is to have a one to one ratio in terms of relationship managers and investment counsellors, because we offer a service advisory driven relationship rather than a product relationship.”
 
This advisory aspect, for example, will often cross over into the corporate area as families make decisions on maximising the wealth they have built up.
 
“These people will have private companies or large stakes in public companies, and often they will require advisory in terms of divesting, monetising, or finding a strategic partner to work with,” says Mr Poon.
 
“That is the nice thing about having Macquarie’s team of corporate advice professionals to call on in Asia.”
 
After launching in late March, Macquarie Private Wealth Asia - which encompasses a geography from India to Taiwan to Japan and down to Malaysia - currently has a headcount of 12, with a target of 60 within five years.
 
“We are not in a hurry,” says Mr Poon.
 
“In Asia people are used to dealing with four or five bankers and when they deal with us we want them to know they are dealing with the best, and that means finding the right professionals to deliver our platform.”