Inigo Mendoza has been named as head of private banking for India, while Singapore-based Balakrishnan Kunnambath now oversees the business in addition to his existing portfolio.

Kunnambath, also head of private banking market for the non-resident Indian (NRI) Asia-Pacific and Indian sub-continent regions, is taking the reins from Mendoza, who has for a year overseen the business alongside other duties.

Credit Suisse launched its wealth management operations in India in 2008 and today has dedicated teams across the major financial centres in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, London, Zurich and Geneva.

“With close to $1 trillion of high net worth wealth, India is an important wealth management market for Credit Suisse in Asia,” said Alex Wade, head of developed and emerging Asia for private banking in Asia-Pacific.

“I am confident that under Kunnambath and Mendoza’s leadership, we will continue to broaden our client base and deepen client penetration, drive collaboration opportunities with both our global NRI teams and our business in India, and to grow our Indian private banking franchise sustainably for the longer term,” he added.

According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute’s Global Wealth Report 2016, there are 178,000 millionaires in India with $973 billion in wealth. Among them, ultra-high net worth individuals with more than $50 million in net wealth grew 5.2 per cent over the period to reach 2,260, including 1,040 with over $100 million. The number of millionaires is projected to rise by 9.5 per cent in the next five years to hit 280,000 in 2021, the firm said.

Kunnambath, who joined Credit Suisse in November 2015 from DBS Private Bank, reports to Wade. Mendoza, meanwhile, reports to Kunnambath as well as locally to Mickey Doshi, chief executive for India.