RBC Wealth Management, part of Royal Bank of Canada, made a number of senior appointments to its private wealth management leadership team.

With operations in Singapore and Hong Kong, RBC Wealth Management (RBCWM) is regularly touted by industry observers as being the next international wealth manager to sell-off its Asian wealth units. Now the Toronto headquartered banking group has announced a number of management changes and additions in Asia. 

Tho Gea Hong, managing director, head of Wealth Management South East Asia, has also been appointed chief executive Singapore Branch. In this role, she will continue to lead the Singapore- based private banking team, in addition to heading up the business from a regulatory standpoint, the bank said in a press release.

Moving to Asia from the U.K., where he was managing director, head of Multi-Family Offices, is Mike Reed who joins as managing director, head of Distribution Strategy, RBCWM, Asia. Reed has been with RBC for eighteen years holding leadership roles in the U.S. and Canada.

New Roles

Chen Yang joins as managing director, head of Business Strategy, RBCWM Asia. Yang will be responsible for implementing business strategies to position the business for sustainable growth. Yang brings to this role seven years’ leadership experience with RBC to this new role, as well as a number of years as a senior management consultant. Reed and Yang relocate to Hong Kong from London and Toronto, respectively, and report to Peter Corry, head of RBCWM Asia who is located in Singapore. 

Stefan Mueller joins RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM), as managing director, Next Generation Asset Management. In his new role, Mueller will be exploring and pursuing the asset management implications of blockchain, both potential near-term incremental improvements to RBC GAM's existing business processes and longer-term transformational possibilities that blockchain might create for the asset management industry. Prior to this appointment, Mueller served as chief operating officer of RBC Wealth Management, Asia and led its investment team since 2014.

Hong Kong and Singapore

RBCWM also recently added to its private banking teams in Hong Kong and Singapore. Derek Leung joins as director, relationship manager, from ANZ, where he was director, Private Banking International Team, serving clients in North Asia. Rita Yeung joins as director, relationship manager, from EFG Bank, where she focused on HNW and UHNW clients throughout Greater China.

In a newly created role in Hong Kong to develop relationships between Greater China and North America, Cherry Lee joins as director, Greater China, from RBC Personal and Commercial Banking in Toronto.

Also in Hong Kong Timothy Cheng joins as associate director, relationship manager from Westpac, where he held management and client relationship roles. Finally in Singapore Irene Ng joins RBCWM as associate director, relationship manager from ANZ.