As further evidence of a pick-up in hiring at private-wealth firms, 12 bankers have joined Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management's North Asia team in the first half of this year.
"There has been considerably more hiring [in private banking in Hong Kong] this year than during the crisis of the last two years, but nowhere near the levels of 2006/2007," says Thomas Stemp, a wealth-management recruiter at Pelham Search Pacific in Hong Kong.
"Clients are being far more selective on who they take on board and are more reserved on compensation," he tells AsianInvestor. "Particularly regarding sign-on bonuses, which are considered a rarity these days."
The Deutsche Bank hires include seven appointments to newly created positions, four of whom came from JP Morgan.
Jane Zhou joined in April as senior relationship manager for the Philippines; Jeffrey Tai arrived in March as team head for Taiwan; and Mike Tan and Willie Chue joined in March as relationship managers.
Pauline Or started this month as a relationship manager and was formerly at Citi Private Bank; former UBS private banker Dennis Dong arrived in March as a relationship manager for China, and Ron Tan joined as a relationship adviser from RBS Coutts in February.
The other five appointments were replacements for departing staff members. Cedric Ko joined as a portfolio counsellor for the Philippines in May from JP Morgan to replace Josie Carballo.
Investment adviser Vincent Ng arrived in May from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and succeeded Jacky Chan.
Meanny Leung moved from DBS Private Bank to replace Denise Chan in January as senior relationship manager for Taiwan.
Veronica Lam succeeded Dorothy Yuen as senior relationship manager for China in January, having previously worked for Credit Suisse Private Bank.
Albert Leung joined in January, also from Credit Suisse Private Bank, to replace Edward Wong as a relationship manager.
Deutsche Bank PWM now has around 70 relationship managers and investment advisers on the North Asia team.
The firm has a stated goal to double the size of its business over the next three years, notes Ravi Raju, Asia-Pacific head of Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management. "We have over 200 relationship bankers among a total staff of close to 700 in the region," he adds, "and plan to add more than 30 relationship managers during the course of 2010."
