Nomura is expanding its wealth management arm in Asia. So far so bland – plenty of other firms outside Asia’s private-banking elite have announced recruitment drives of late (think Bordier & Cie, BMO, BNY Mellon and UBP).
But Nomura looks like wanting to hire a different type of private banker – those who can forge closer links between wealth management and global markets. It’s just recruited Lee Chee Pin as head of financial products and solutions for wealth management Asia ex-Japan and tasked him to lead the collaboration between departments, such as cross selling swaps and derivatives to business-owning private clients, reports Finance Asia.
While cross selling is not a new concept, so far in Asia it has been the preserve of the larger private banks by regional assets – UBS, Credit Suisse, Citi and Deutsche Bank, for example. Nomura isn’t even in the top 20, so its need for cross-selling experience marks it out from the other ‘smaller’ private banks trying to hire in Asia.
One headhunter we spoke with says the Japanese firm will need to target talent from UBS, Credit Suisse and other large firms. “That’s where the expertise in cross selling is,” he says.
Nomura’s strength in investment banking and the fact that it merged its Japan and ex-Japan Asia wealth units last year should provide it with sufficient clout to attract more private bankers. In January, for example, it managed to poach Amanda Chen from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management as deputy head of wealth management for ex-Japan Asia. Chen was in the US bank’s strategic transaction group, which leads collaboration with other divisions.
Meanwhile:
Senior Singapore banker explains his remarkable rise from HR to the front office. (Straits Times)
DBS launches operations in Australia. (Channel News Asia)
Top Standard Chartered banker says Hong Kong’s dollar peg is vital for stability. (Reuters)
PICC plans to “ride the internet finance tide” in China. (South China Morning Post)
Growth in Singapore bank lending slows. (Straits Times)
Drunken expats cause ‘carnage’ in Hong Kong. (Telegraph)
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