HSBC Private Banking in Singapore hires ex-Credit Suisse banker for ultra high net worth unit

HSBC Private Banking has made another senior hire for its new ultra high net worth unit focused on serving super rich families in Asia, following two senior hires in March.

Chan Eng Chien has been appointed head of Ultra-High Net Worth Solutions, South-east Asia, a newly created role. According to his LinkedIn page, he was most recently head of sales South Asia at Credit Suisse in Singapore and left the role in March.

At HSBC, he will be expected to provide bespoke and tailored solutions to ultra wealthy clients whose transactions tend to be "more intricate" and require "pulling in different kinds of specialists", the bank said.

This comes after HSBC announced plans in 2018 to double private banking headcount in five years. Two-thirds of the roles will be client-facing relationship managers, investment counsellors and product specialists.

"We're making that pivot to growth by substantially investing in our bench strength attracting the best talent in the industry," said Philip Kunz, head of private banking, South-east Asia.

On progress, he said: "More than ever, our HR (human resources) team is fielding calls from candidates searching us out to be part of the team. Even internally we're seeing staff increasingly transfer from other parts of HSBC into private banking."