Deutsche Bank Wealth Management in Asia intends to add 50 client-facing positions including relationship managers during the second half or 2017. An ambitious target in a region where the fight for talent is intense.
The German lender had a troubled time during 2016 which saw several senior departures that included the loss of its top man in Asia.
In October last year Ravi Raju, the former Hong Kong based Head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management (DBWM) who had been with the bank since 2007, left for rival UBS. Raju was known to enjoy a strong loyalty from his senior management team and relationship managers.
Sure enough Anurag Mahesh, who was DBWM's Singapore-based global head of key client partners, also joined the Swiss bank around the same time.
The Rebuilding Job
In an interview with «Bloomberg» DBWM's Lok Yim, the unit’s new Asia-Pacific head, declined to spell out the precise hiring target for relationship managers, (RM's) which as of December totaled close to 200 at his unit.
Yim is trying to rebuild the German bank’s wealth business in Asia, he was previously DBWM's North Asia wealth management chief and was named to lead the region after Raju's exit.
Hiring Challenges
Julius Baer and Credit Suisse were aggressive recruiters in the Asian wealth market last year. Boutique private banks such as J.Safra Sarasin and Lombard Odier also added to their headcount and DBWM will find it a serious challenge to add a significant number of RM's between now and year end.
Client assets at Deutsche Bank’s Asia wealth unit slumped to $45 billion at the end of last year from $52 billion in March 2015, according to data on the firm’s website. That amount had risen to $48 billion as of March this year according to the Bloomberg report.
