The private banking arm of Credit Suisse is expanding its Asia operations, with plans to double staff and revenue in the region in the next two years and launch a private banking operation in Japan next year.
Speaking at the Reuters Wealth Management Summit in Singapore, head of private banking Asia Pacific Miarcel Kreis said private banking assets in Asia have been growing at around 20 to 25 per cent in recent times, and it is expecting Credit Suisse to reach similar targets.
Kreis said Credit Suisse is currently looking for a chief executive, relationship managers and product specialists with adequate language skills for the launch of the new private banking business in Japan late next year.
“If you look at the Asian Wealth demographics, currently we are looking at $7.6 trillion of assets with the wealthy, 65 per cent of that $7.6 trillion is in Japan and China,” he said.
“In Japan, for example, we have an established investment banking and asset management franchise. The challenge is, how do we translate the wealth management to private banking expertise into a local Japanese context.”
According to Kreis, Credit Suisse has future plans for developing a wider presence in China.
