Nomura goes on hiring spree in bid to boost wealth management business

IN a bid to grow its international wealth management business, Asian investment bank Nomura has in the past half-year period taken more than 25 private bankers and investment advisers into its fold, over and above a previous recruitment drive that saw 20 wealth management professionals join by January.

The bank said on Thursday that these moves, for individuals based in Singapore and Hong Kong. are in keeping with its push to expand its private banking business. They also follow the exodus of 20 investment bankers in Asia in the months of May and June, following their bonus payouts.

Nomura said it is looking to increase its assets under management from current levels "by at least threefold in the medium term", and to better serve the needs of entrepreneurs and ultra-high-net-worth clients in the area of structured products, financing and derivatives solutions.

Some of Nomura's newest hires in the latest recruitment round include three managing director-level positions overseeing clients in Greater China, South-east Asia and non-resident India markets.

Managing the Greater China segment is Richard Hu, who was previously at the Bank of Singapore, Julius Baer, HSBC, Credit Suisse, UBS and Citi in private banking focusing on Chinese and Taiwanese high-net-worth clients.

In charge of the Indonesian market, as well as South-east Asia as a whole, is Melani Hoesada, who was last at UBS Wealth Management and previously from Deutsche Wealth Management. She was also involved in relationship management with Citi in Surabaya and Singapore.

Covering the non-resident Indian market as well as South-east Asia is Kapil Poply, who was previously managing director for private banking at Standard Chartered, and prior to that at UOB, ANZ, ING and UBS.

Commenting on the hires, Nomura's recently-appointed head of international wealth management Ravi Raju expressed confidence in their ability to strengthen Nomura's presence in the region.

"The core of our ambitions to build a global wealth platform for clients lies in recruiting the right people. I am confident our new joiners, all of them seasoned professionals from the wealth management industry, will enhance client coverage and advice, and help strengthen our presence across Greater China, South-east Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East," he said.

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