Ex-Julius Baer banker boosts hiring to target Asia's ultra-rich

ALI JAMAL, a former Julius Baer Group banker, is building out the Asia operations of his wealth-management firm that targets the ultra-rich.

Lawrence Lua, former global head of DBS Group Holdings's private bank, was hired as chairman of Azura's Singapore branch to lead business in South-east Asia, the firm said in a statement. Azura plans to continue hiring locally, with the Singapore team making up about 1/3 of its total headcount within the next few years.

Azura, which currently has 40 employees globally, has added more than 20 professionals since the start of 2021 from firms including Credit Suisse Group, Barclays and UBS Group.

The wealth manager opened a Dubai office this year, adding to locations in London, Geneva and Monaco, where it recruited former Bombardier executive Christophe Degoumois to be the branch chairman. It opened its Singapore branch in 2020.

Singapore and Dubai are "strategically important locations for us," Jamal said in the statement.

Azura's South-east Asia strategy underlines the region's reputation as a global wealth hub, largely due to its high standard of living, political stability and plethora of tax treaties. Ray Dalio's family office is also recruiting investment professionals in Singapore, even after the city-state recently raised levies on the rich to allay concerns of inequality following years of attracting the world's super-wealthy.

Lua joined Singapore-based DBS in 2011 and helped expand the number of relationship managers amid a surge in fortunes in the region. He stepped down as global head of its private bank in December 2019 to become a senior adviser.

Jamal, 40, a former Kuwaiti army officer, started Azura in 2019 with about US$2 billion of advisory assets under management after most recently working as Julius Baer's head of key clients for emerging markets. That amount has now grown to about US$3 billion, according to the statement. BLOOMBERG