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The latest raft of hires made by Nomura's wealth arm signals a renewed ultra-high net worth commitment and a serious run to become Japan's only player to break the top ranks of private banking in Asia.

Following Nomura chief executive Kentaro Okuda's announcement late last year to target $35 billion AUM target for the Asia ex-Japan wealth unit by March 2025 – it currently has around $10 billion in assets under management – work was cut out for a major asset acquisition drive.

In March, the bank had around $7 billion, according to a December presentation, signaling strong early momentum.

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With at least $35 billion of assets under management, Nomura's international wealth business would break into the region's top 20 private banks, according to 2019 data from «Asian Private Banker», exceeding renowned local giants like Hang Seng and Bank of China (Hong Kong).

And although Nomura is a formidable name in the global financial sector, its private banking presence throughout Asia – especially in Greater China – is relatively limited compared to other wealth giants like UBS or HSBC. This acts as no tailwind to passively attracting top private banking talent or client assets.

But with the arrival of industry veteran Ravi Raju in September last year and investment banking reporting lines – Rig Karkhanis, deputy head of global markets and Asia ex-Japan head of global markets, as well as Steve Ashley, head of wholesale – ultra-high net worth (UHNW) banker recruitment appeared to be in play.

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