Barclays Wealth Asia Opens 2011 With Six Senior Hires

Vanessa Doctor

9 January 2011

Barclays Wealth has announced six director-level hires for its Asia Pacific private banking business.

Barbara Yenson strengthens the ultra and high net worth covereage in Hong Kong as director. Yenson was previously executive vice president at RBS Coutts in Hong Kong and brings 25 years of private banking experience to her new role. She reports to Joanna Chu, the managing director and head of North Asia.

Also recently added to the team are Preditha Dewi and Cicilia Audrey Rei as directors for the Indonesia office. Dewi most recently worked for Bank Commonwealth in Indonesia, while Rei previously served at Credit Suisse. Both report to Errie Maksum, managing director and market head of Indonesia.

For Singapore and Malaysia, the company has named Dicky Ang to oversee the UHNW and HNW client segment. Ang, who brings 30 years of corporate and private banking experience to the firm, will report to Soh Chye Guan, the managing director and market head of Singapore and Malaysia. He joined the company from HSBC Private Bank, where he served as a director until November 2010.

For the Southeast Asia active advisory team, the private bank has added Ian Tay as director, with responsibility for the advisory solutions for Singapore-based relationship managers and their clients. Tay joined the company in November 2010 from JP Morgan Private Bank, where he was an investment specialist.

Finally, completing the roster of new executive hires is Benjamin Yeo, who was named director and head of research for economics and strategy in Asia, responsible for strategy teams supporting Barclays Wealth's Asia Pacific private banking operations, as well as the onshore units in Japan and India. He reports functionally to Aaron Gurwitz, the New York-based managing director and chief investment officer, and regionally to Bryan Henning, the managing director and head of global research and investments for Asia.

The appointments were made over the past five weeks and build on the company's continuing drive to capture a wider ultra high and high net worth market, particularly in greater China and Indonesia. Barclays Wealth is also growing its non-resident Indian coverage.

Barclays Wealth has been aggressively expanding its Asian business over the past months, including the opening of a new booking centre in Hong Kong and the acquisition of a trust licence from the Singapore authorities to conduct further business in the city state. The bank also forged a private banking joint venture with Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Nikko Cordial Securities last year to offer wealth management services to the country's rising number of HNW individuals.