Rothschild appointed an experienced local banker as head of its wealth management unit in Hong Kong. Pairing Asian cultural knowledge with Swiss banking expertise seems to be en vogue.
Rothschild Wealth Management & Trust named Audrey Zau head of its North Asia division. Zau previously worked for BHI Investment Advisors and will replace Alois Müller at Rothschild, the bank reported in Hong Kong on Friday.
Zau is a seasoned private banker, looking back on 15 years as senior director at HSBC. She will report to Richard Martin, co-head of Rothschild Wealth Management & Trust.
Difficult Hiring Process
Martin told «Finance Asia» that it had been difficult to find an experienced and respected manager for the North Asian business. The hiring process had taken a year to complete.
He also said that the bank wanted a person who spoke Chinese, had strong links in the region and could rely on a substantial network of connections.
Growth With Asian Clients
These qualifications seem to play an ever more important part for private banks who do business in the region. Bank Julius Baer recently hired Jimmy Lee, a local banker, to head its Asian business, replacing Thomas Meier in 2016, as finews.ch reported.
Alois Müller joined Rothschild two years ago from UBS, where he advised seriously rich Asian clients. Rothschild is a smaller player in Asian wealth management, specializing on discretionary mandates, which it believes will continue to increase.
Martin targets growth of assets under management of 10 to 15 percent in Asia. Customers from the region make up more than 10 percent of the bank's business.
