While the rest of the industry worries about layoffs, private banks continue to hire — or at least play musical chairs among the banks.
UBS announced yesterday that Valerie Chou had joined the private bank on Monday as the head of client coverage for the global family office (GFO) in Hong Kong.
Chou has more than 20 years in the industry — the past 15 years were spent at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management where she held various senior management roles including co-heading the private wealth management business for Hong Kong client coverage and co-managing a joint venture between private wealth management and the institutional securities group.
Chou will report to Amy Lo, head of Asia-Pacific ultra-high-net-worth, UBS Wealth Management.
Linda Kwo joined as a country team head in Hong Kong. Her appointment was effective December 1.
Kwo’s career spans more than 30 years and she has worked in major banks including: BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered. Her most recent position was as a managing director at BNP Paribas Wealth Management where she headed a team of client-focused private bankers and marketing assistants.
She will report to Francis Liu, regional market manager, Hong Kong, UBS Wealth Management.
“Valerie and Linda have extensive experience as well as strong client networks in the region. Their arrival bolsters the already-deep bench strength we have across the business and promises to add further value to our clients,” said Kathryn Shih, CEO of UBS Wealth Management in Asia-Pacific.
“UBS Wealth Management will continue to hire strategically in growth areas when high-calibre talent becomes available. Since the start of the year, the business in Asia-Pacific has made in excess of 450 new hires. Our ability to attract and retain talent continues to be a lynchpin of our business platform,” added Shih.
Credit Suisse’s hires
Meanwhile, UBS’s Swiss rival is also hiring.
Credit Suisse announced Friday that Angela Bow has been appointed managing director and market leader for the Philippines in its private banking division as of tomorrow. Based in Hong Kong, she will report to Martin Kuenzler, managing director and market area head for emerging Asia.
In addition, Albert Ma will be joining Credit Suisse’s private banking division as managing director and team leader for the Philippines market based in Hong Kong, reporting to Bow from January 18, 2012.
Bow has more than 10 years experience in senior relationship management and market leadership roles covering the Philippines market. Previously, she was country team head for the Philippines market at UBS, and has more than 25 years’ experience in international private banking with UBS and Citi in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Geneva and New York.
Ma also joins Credit Suisse from UBS where has more than 10 years of experience building a high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth client base in the Philippines. He has more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry and has had roles at HSBC and UBS, in private banking relationship management as well as in treasury and foreign exchange.
Marcel Kreis, head of private banking Asia-Pacific at Credit Suisse, said: “We are delighted to welcome Angela and Albert to Credit Suisse. Both of them bring an enormous wealth of experience in international private banking, especially covering the Philippines market. Our ability to continuously attract senior talent reaffirms Credit Suisse’s commitment to its leading private banking franchise in Asia-Pacific.”
Kreis recently told FinanceAsia in an interview that private banking Asia-Pacific has been among the fastest-growing of Credit Suisse’s international wealth management businesses, with double-digit growth in net new assets annually since 2008.
