BNP Paribas hires 20 private bankers for Asia wealth expansion

BNP Paribas has recruited about 20 bankers for its wealth business in Asia as part of the French lender’s plans to grow its presence in the region.

The hires over the past six months were across Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, according to a person familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified discussing internal information.

Martin Loh started in November as head of wealth management for China after joining from Credit Suisse Group, while Kate Lin was recruited to head Taiwan.

Other senior hires include Tiffeny Situ from Morgan Stanley and Wendy Chan, who was previously at Citigroup, according to the person. Both are managing directors, based in Hong Kong and covering the Greater China market. Angela Yang and Vicky Liu also joined the Paris-based bank, the source said.

BNP Paribas has around US$80 billion of assets under management at its wealth business in Asia, where the firm’s wealth management unit is led by Arnaud Tellier. The French firm said in 2022 it had a target to double the cash it manages for wealthy Chinese offshore over the next three years and is on a hiring push in Singapore and Hong Kong to handle the increased business. 

Elsewhere in the region, there’s been plenty of recent movements among senior bankers following UBS Group’s takeover of Credit Suisse. Bank of Singapore recently took on Credit Suisse wealth veteran Rickie Chan to head Greater China, while banks including HSBC Holdings, Julius Baer and EFG International have also been hiring.

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While the Asia-Pacific region is home to about US$55 trillion in financial wealth, second only to North America, according to a Boston Consulting Group report, private banks are battling with muted transaction revenues and less lending, with clients burnt by China property turmoil and a selloff in China technology shares.

BNP Paribas is up against bigger rivals including UBS, HSBC and Citigroup in the race to lure money from wealthy clients. 

Credit Suisse has dismissed its entire wealth management team in China after UBS decided not to take on the staff, Bloomberg has reported, while a slowing economy and a dearth of deals has weighed on some overseas lenders in the country. BLOOMBERG