Julius Baer has expanded its Thailand joint venture with Siam Commercial Bank – SCB Julius Baer – with a handful of new hires from the latter lender.

SCB Julius Baer hired five private bankers for its Thailand joint venture, according to a statement, which includes one team leader and four relationship managers, effective immediately. 

Varisa Labanukrom has been named as the lead for a newly formed wealth management team, joining from Siam Commercial Bank’s (SCB) private wealth arm SCB Private Banking. She has over 20 years of experience in the financial sector and previously also worked at SCB Asset Management, Kasikorn Bank and Kasikorn Asset Management. 

SCB Private Bankers

In addition, SCB Julius Baer has also added ex-SCB private bankers Narumon Samart, Panurat Nara-Arc, Pajaree Sakulsuraekapong and Sorawan Suwanwat as relationship managers. 

Samart was a private banker at SCB Private Banking for four years after previously working at Phatra Asset Management and The Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Nara-Arc was also a private banker with SCB Private Banking after a two-year stint as an SCB Wealth Management Trainee. She also previously worked at Kasikorn Securities.

Sakulsuraekapong spent 10 years with SCB, most recently as a senior private banker. Prior to that, he was a relationship manager with SCB Asset Management.

Suwanwat was most recently a senior private banker at SCB Private Banking where she spent seven years. Previously, she also worked at Kasikorn Bank.

Expansion Progress

In mid-2020, SCB Julius Baer announced ambitious private banking goals in Thailand including a target to have 1 trillion baht ($29 billion) in assets under management.

The joint venture was established in 2018 and continues to expand with the overall team size doubling since 2020.

Business Model

The SCB Julius Baer platform is fully licensed domestically to offer clients discretionary portfolio management (DPM) services, private equity, hedge fund, credit, wealth planning, structured products solutions and direct investment opportunities – effectively mirroring the offering for offshore clients.

In addition, SCB Julius Baer clients will also have access to the SCB offering including research, wealth planning and lending facilities. 

«Our 'best of both worlds approach' comprising holistic advisory for both domestic and international investments is not only unique for our clients but also our bankers,» said SCB Julius Baer head of wealth management Adrian Mazenauer.

«By integrating our local expertise with Julius Baer’s full suite of international wealth management capabilities and advisory services, we are well-positioned to consolidate our leadership position as the market leader in Thailand.»