October was a busy month in Asia for a handful of large names in wealth management, such as Bank of Singapore, BNP Paribas, Raffles, EFG, and HSBC.

Bank of Singapore appointed Che Yan and Hank Chen to join its Hong Kong branch as senior relationship managers under the team of Irene Wat, market head of Greater China. Prior to joining Bank of Singapore, Che Yan she served as co-head of private banking and head of the cross-border business department at China Minsheng Bank. At the latter bank, she led the strategic integration of corporate and private banking services.

Hank Chen has nearly 25 years of experience serving HNW and institutional clients, with expertise in investment advisory, asset allocation and managing business cycles. He was previously an executive director and a relationship manager at JP Morgan Private Bank’s China team.

Bank of Singapore also brought back Bikram Sen as market head for Global South Asia and International. Previously at UBS, Sen, who is based in Singapore, reports to Zubin Dabu, market group head for Global South Asia and International. With more than 20 years of experience in private banking and asset management, Sen served in senior leadership roles at Credit Suisse, Coutts, Standard Chartered, and most recently UBS.

Deutsche Bank appointed Cora Chiu as head of investment management, North Asia. She reports functionally to Gian-Maria Piccolo and locally to Fred Fong. Chiu has nearly 20 years' experience across foreign exchange and commodity advisory, multi-asset trading, and product strategy at HSBC.

Natixis Investment Managers appointed former Schroders senior figure Ping Yee Low as its head of institutional business, Singapore and Southeast Asia. Low, who is based in Singapore, reports to Dora Seow, CEO, Natixis IM Singapore. At Schroders, Low was head of institutional business for Southeast Asia – a post she held for more than seven years. Previously, she worked for six years at CTBC Bank Co (Singapore), and before that, at Mercer.

SimCorp appointed Jesper Tyrer as head of sales for Asia-Pacific, and Medi Tuku as head of solutions engineering for the same region. Tyrer has experience at Bloomberg and as a company founder. Prior to SimCorp, he spent eight years at BlackRock, most recently as head of APAC Aladdin Business Development. Both leaders are based in Singapore; they report to Edward Bee, senior managing director, head of APAC. 

BNP Paribas Wealth Management made a number of changes to its investment service teams in Asia-Pacific. It melded its client-facing investment advisory roles into a single “advisory spectrum,” led by Rajesh Hathiramani, who already headed its MyAdvisory and Portfolio Advisory Services businesses. He also took on the post of head of active advisory for Asia, succeeding Sharon Loh. Before joining BNP Paribas WM, Hathiramani served in senior leadership roles at UBS in Singapore and Hong Kong, including head of active portfolio advisory, Asia. He is based in Singapore.

Turning to the Greater China market, the firm appointed Xinran Li as head of active advisory, Hong Kong, reporting to Hathiramani. Li, managing director and senior investment counsellor, has been at the firm since 2015. Jack Lee, who led the Hong Kong team, became the head of discretionary portfolio management for Asia. 

A former HSBC senior figure for Taiwan, Eric Kao, joined BNP Paribas Wealth Management. Kao's role is team head, private banking. With more than 14 years of private banking experience in Asian markets, Kao was most recently team head at HSBC Global Private Banking (Taipei). Previously , he served in a similar role at UBS (Taipei).

BNP Paribas Wealth Management appointed Che-Kun Hsu as head of wealth management for Taiwan. He replaced Kate Lin who left the bank earlier to take on a role at KGI Bank, a local Taiwan bank. Hsu reports to Tellier and functionally to Bruno Boussard, CEO of Taiwan, BNP Paribas. Hsu joined the French firm from UBS in Taiwan.

A former senior Goldman Sachs figure joined JP Morgan Private Bank in Hong Kong. Adrian Loh was appointed as managing director at the US bank. Prior to this, Loh worked at Goldman Sachs for almost a decade, starting in May 2014, based in Hong Kong, serving as MD, private wealth management.

Arcus, a UK-based specialist asset manager concentrating on Japan, appointed Takaaki Haruki as head of its research office, based in Tokyo. Haruki succeeded Peter Tasker, who will be stepping down from the role at the end of 2025 after 27 years at the helm.

Citigroup appointed Chelsea Chu as head of corporate banking for Taiwan, based in Taipei. Chu has more than 26 years’ banking experience, having previously worked at ANZ in Taiwan, where she was head of corporate coverage.

PGIM Real Estate made two senior appointments designed to accelerate its expansion in debt and equity markets in its Australian business. Sam Mellor joined as head of real estate debt, Australia, and Stuart Carr joined as head of real estate equity, Australia. The roles are newly created; both men are based in Sydney. Mellor and Carr report to Steve Bulloch, head of Australia for GIM real estate and head of Asia-Pacific real estate debt.

Lioner International Group appointed former HSBC senior figure Henry Lam as group strategic advisor. Most recently, Lam was regional head of wealth planning and advisory, Asia-Pacific at HSBC Private Bank. He has also held leadership positions at Credit Suisse and UBS.

The firm also appointed Gary Mak as general manager, Hong Kong. Mak oversees Lioner’s Hong Kong operations, driving sales strategy, commercial execution, and advisor engagement across the firm’s 3-in-1 wealth structuring platform. Mak has worked at firms such as Fubon Life, ACE Life, AXA, MetLife, and New York Life. Most recently, Mak served as head of brokerage at Fubon Life (Hong Kong).

Blackstone appointed former Deutsche Bank figure Apurva Shah to join its Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) business – its first hire in India. He has over 26 years of experience and expertise in leveraged finance, securitisations, structuring, M&A advisory, and capital markets. Shah reports to Mark Glengarry, head of APAC for private credit strategies in BXCI.

JP Morgan Asset Management appointed Swa Wu as head of Asia ex-Japan investment specialists within its global fixed income, currency and commodities (GFICC) group, based in Hong Kong. Swa Wu, who leads the investment specialist team in Asia, reports to London-based Jemma Clee, international head of investment specialists for GFICC. Swa Wu returned to JPMAM with over a decade of experience as a senior fixed income investment specialist.

Raffles Family Office added two seasoned professionals to its relationship management team in Hong Kong. Michael Tung joined as managing director, and Jennie Liang as executive director. They are both based in Hong Kong, reporting directly to Chi Man Kwan, group chief executive officer.

Tung has extensive experience in banking and finance, with expertise in private equity and venture capital across Greater China, Southeast Asia, and the US. He began his career with UBS and Morgan Stanley and later transitioned into the family office sector with Rockpool Capital and Ark Advisors. Liang previously served in key positions at UBS, Credit Suisse, Rockpool Capital, and Ark Advisors.

EFG (Singapore Branch) hired two bankers who have joined its global South Asia team, led by Ravi Ramakrishnan, market group head. Vikram Nimkar, market head, global South Asia (GSA), reports to Ramakrishnan. Most recently, Nimkar served as head of private banking Asia at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). Shonali Batra, client relationship officer, GSA, also based in Singapore, reports to market head, Hussain Poonawalla. 

EFG Bank appointed Robin Heng as vice chairman of Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore, Heng reports to Albert Chiu, executive chairman, Asia Pacific of EFG, and functionally to Tho Gea Hong, chief executive officer, Singapore branch. Heng is a private banking veteran with 30 years of experience in the financial industry. He recently served as co-head of private banking at Bank of Singapore,

PineBridge Investments appointed Katerina Irwan as senior vice president to strengthen the firm’s Asia equities function. Irwan is based in Singapore. She has more than 18 years of experience in fundamental equity research and portfolio management.

Allspring Global Investments appointed Jeremy Gordon as head of sales for Australia and New Zealand. Gordon, who is based in Sydney, reports to Andy Sowerby, head of the International Client Group at Allspring. Gordon spent more than 17 years at Challenger Investment Management, which included leading institutional sales and client service for Challenger Life, and Fidante affiliate Ardea Investment Management. 

Blackstone appointed Kimberly Kim as a senior managing director and head of Asia-Pacific insurance institutional client solutions for Blackstone Credit & Insurance.

Eastspring Investments appointed Ioannis Kampouris as head of quantitative strategies. Kampouris, who is based in Singapore, reports to Vis Nayar, chief investment officer of Eastspring Investments. Previously, he worked at HSBC Asset Management in the UK. 

The private bank of Barclays in Singapore made appointments in Asia:
David Nendick relocated from London to take on the role of team leader for the Southeast Asia market. With more than 40 years of experience advising ultra-HNW families and family offices in Asia, Nendick focuses on expanding the bank’s coverage in Thailand and Malaysia.

Barclays named Clare Yang as team leader for the North Asia market. Most recently, Yang was executive director at JP Morgan, and previously with Credit Suisse and UOB. 

Jessine Chua was made senior private banker for Malaysia and Singapore. Chua has more than two decades of experience at LGT Bank and UBS. The three managers report to Evonne Tan, the head of the private bank in Singapore.

Additionally, Jerome Idres joined as the head of investment services platform and product management (ISP) in Singapore. Idres has nearly 25 years of experience of private banking and capital markets, most recently at Deutsche Private Bank. 

HSBC Global Private Banking unveiled a raft of appointments across its frontline and client lifecycle management teams in Asia:

Southeast Asia and Global India
Edy Panggabean was been appointed senior relationship manager and cluster head for Indonesia. He joined from UBS Global Wealth Management, where he advised UHNW families, family offices and entrepreneurs across Indonesia. 

Xilin Yeo joined the Indonesia team as relationship manager (RM); she previously served sophisticated clients across Southeast Asia at UBS Global Wealth Management. 

Kraisit Buakruen joined as an RM based in Singapore, reporting to Benjamin Wang, desk head for Thailand and Vietnam. He has more than a decade of wealth management and private banking experience, most recently with Kasikornbank in Bangkok.

Fiona Gan joined the Greater China team as an RM, reporting to Catherine Claire Lim, desk head for China and Hong Kong. Gan was previously at UBS Global Wealth Management.

Shobana Vaidhyanathan joined the Global India team in Singapore as an RM; he has 24 years of experience across private banking, wealth, and corporate banking in Singapore and India, most recently with Citi Private Bank. 

Sangeet Batra also joined the Global India team in Singapore as an RM. Most recently, he served as head of business development at Southern Ridges Capital, a Singapore-headquartered global macro hedge fund. 

CLM and risk functions
Clarence Arokiasamy was appointed regional head of client lifecycle management, Global Private Banking, based in Hong Kong. He has been with HSBC since 2016.

Souvik Bera joined from UBS as regional head of commercial due diligence business advisory, Global Private Banking. 

Samm Zhuo was appointed Singapore head of client lifecycle management.

Minying Chen joined as regional CDD quality assurance team lead, based in Singapore. She has 18 years of CDD and controls experience, most recently with Credit Suisse.

Liam Gormley joined as senior business financial crime risk manager, Asia Global Private Banking, wealth and personal services, focusing on anti-money laundering, sanctions, and financial crime risk in South Asia.