J.P. Morgan private wealth management has hired Mark Evans and Salman Haider to strengthen its Asia client coverage.
Evans joined J.P. Morgan’s private wealth management (PWM) business on Monday as market manager for expatriates, at the level of managing director. A source said this is a newly created position intended to cover professionals such as chief executive officers, partners at accounting and legal firms, and others who are on overseas postings in Asia but will eventually return to their home country. Evans will be based in Hong Kong and will report to Peter Flavel, the chief executive of J.P. Morgan PWM. Evans earlier spent 10 years with Royal Bank of Canada in London, most recently covering expatriates living in London.
Meanwhile, Haider will join on July 18, also as an MD, as market manager for Southeast Asia. Haider will be based in Singapore. He was most recently the regional head of Citi’s private client group covering the high-net-worth client segment across 14 markets in Asia. In his nine years at Citi, Haider has worked in wealth management in Zurich, London and Singapore. He will also report to Flavel.
Citi confirmed that Haider has left the bank. Paul Hodes is currently managing the business on an interim basis until further announcement, said a source close to the situation.
“Salman will lead our efforts to grow the important Southeast Asia high-net-worth market,” said Flavel in a written statement announcing the appointments. “The high-net-worth expatriate segment is a new market for us and Mark will lead the development of that practice where we will cover the ever growing presence of high-net-worth expatriates working across Asia.”
J.P. Morgan divides its private banking business into private wealth management and the private bank. PWM serves high-net-worth clients with a net worth between $10 million and $30 million. J.P. Morgan private bank focuses on ultra-high-net-worth clients with a net worth above $30 million.
Private banking in Asia is growingly increasingly competitive as all banks try to build their offering and teams to attract clients. In contrast to much of the rest of the world, the assets under management of Asia’s rich have grown significantly even since the subprime-sparked financial crisis.
Earlier this week, Credit Agricole (Suisse) announced it was opening a booking centre in Hong Kong, following its receipt of a full banking licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in March. Together, the booking centre and the licence will enable Credit Agricole private banking to expand its client and business portfolios in Asia, said the bank in a written statement. Credit Agricole already has a booking centre in Singapore, in addition to its booking centre in Geneva. It has a stated aim of doubling its managed assets in Hong Kong and Singapore between 2010 and 2013.