Two directors at HSBC Private Bank’s luxury real estate buying business, Property Vision, have left to branch out on their own, WealthBriefingAsia can exclusively reveal. (WBA is a sister website to this publication).

Director Stuart Baldock and associate director Nigel Hindle have left Property Vision to launch Hindle & Baldock, a Nice-based property finder specialising in finding luxury properties in France. Areas covered include the South of France, Monaco, the Cote D’Azur, Provence and Paris. The firm's target client base is high net worth individuals looking to buy into the French lifestyle, with the added bonus of the country being a wealth haven. 

The two are joined by chartered surveyor Blair Robinson, who has experience working with HNW individuals buying property in France.

HSBC later confirmed to this publication that the directors has left the firm. 

Property Vision, the 25-year old London-based buying agent, was bought by HSBC Private Bank in 2001. It currently has around 60 employees covering London, the UK countryside and France.

Like many of HSBC’s non-core businesses, resources have been cut to Property Vision, say sources close to the situation, as the bank carries through a wide-reaching cost-cutting programme which will see it exit from businesses and regions where it lacks weight. Around 30,000 job cuts are expected from the global restructuring.

HSBC has been beating a retreat from parts of Asia including Japan, South Korea and Thailand, as chief executive officer Stuart Gulliver attempts to rein in costs in a difficult trading environment. It agreed to sell its Japanese private banking arm to Credit Suisse, and also sold its Thai retail unit to Bank of Ayudhya in January.

The bank will also sell operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras to Colombia's Banco Davivienda for $801 million, in order to focus on bigger markets in Latin America.