DBS Private Bank hires ex-UBS banker to head S-E Asia unit

DBS said on Wednesday it has appointed former UBS banker Joseph Poon as the regional head of South-east Asia for its private bank division. He joins on Aug 16, 2016.

Mr Poon was most recently head of UBS Wealth Management's ultra high net worth and global family office businesses for South-east Asia.

He will report to Lawrence Lua, who has been promoted to deputy head of DBS Private Bank; Mr Lua was previously head of South and South-east Asia at DBS Private Bank. He will continue to report to Tan Su Shan, group head of consumer banking and wealth management at DBS.

Mr Poon is a veteran in the wealth management industry and has held various senior positions at several leading private banks, including Julius Baer, Macquarie Private Bank Asia and JPMorgan Singapore.

"With these senior appointments, we are ready to take our private banking business to the next level with a strong focus on the ultra high net worth segment and the digital evolution," DBS said in a statement.

"As we execute against our strategy to achieve our ambition of becoming the wealth manager of choice, we will continue to focus on enhancing the delivery of our financial and banking capabilities to our clients. This includes our initiatives to deliver the next generation client experience in providing advice and the ongoing development of our best-in-class digital wealth platform."

As at March 2016, DBS's high net worth assets under management and assets under management for all wealth customers stood at S$101 billion and S$147 billion respectively.