Julius Baer sees Asia making up a third of business

Singapore

JULIUS Baer Group Ltd, Switzerland's third-largest publicly traded private bank, sees Asia accounting for about a third of its business in the next five years as the firm adds staff to tap into rising affluence in the region.

The Zurich-based bank's hiring spree from last year is paying off in a "very big way", chief executive officer Boris Collardi said on Thursday in a Bloomberg Television interview in Singapore. Asia currently accounts for about 20 per cent to 25 per cent of its business, he said.