The private banking arm of Standard Chartered has expanded its front office with more than a dozen new hires in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Middle East.

Standard Chartered Private Bank has made more than a dozen hires for its front office, according to a statement, across Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

«Aligned with the ambition to grow the affluent business, the Bank has been building up the Private Bank in the last few years,» it said. «Selective hiring of talent to boost the frontline teams continues to be critical in supporting high and ultra-high net worth clients’ needs.»

Singapore

In Singapore, Standard Chartered Private Bank has hired Nicholas Cheng as managing director, head of private markets group, reporting to Foo Tian Ong, regional head, private banking, Southeast Asia and Singapore location head. Cheng has 30 years of experience, most recently focusing on strategic advisory to C-suite and franchise building together with ultra-high net worth and institutional limited partnerships.

Hedi Dorai joined in June as executive director, relationship manager, reporting to Vijai Krovvidi, market head, private banking, global South Asian clients. He has over 20 years of experience, including in investment advisory and portfolio management, and was most recently working at Credit Suisse.

Au Soo Leng joined as executive director, relationship manager, reporting to team lead Andy Chua. She has 30 years of private banking and wealth management experience with HSBC.

Angelina Wee joins from UBS as executive director, relationship manager, reporting to team lead Gregory Wong. She has 20 years of private banking experience.

Royston Ow Yong also joins from UBS as managing director, team lead, reporting to Paterson Lau, market head, private banking, Indonesia. Ow Yong has 25 years of experience with a focus on ultra-rich clients in Indonesia and Singapore.

Hong Shuqin and Gabriel Koh will join as director, relationship manager and associate director, relationship manager, respectively, Hong has nearly 20 years of experience in client relationship management most recently with Deutsche Bank. Koh has over 15 years of private banking experience, mostly at UBS.

Sarah Lim will join as head of investment advisory, reporting to Foo. She has 20 years of experience and was most recently also working at UBS.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, the bank added Jeffrey Song in June as executive director, relationship manager, reporting to team lead Joseph Tam. Song has 12 years of private banking experience and previously worked at Credit Suisse.

30-year Greater China veteran Charlene Mak rejoined Standard Chartered Private Bank from Bank of Singapore as executive director, relationship manager, reporting to team lead Elina Yuen.

Helen Tong joined as managing director, relationship manager, reporting to Kin Chan, market head, private banking, Hong Kong. Tong has 16 years of experience, most recently at Credit Suisse.

Ramon Au Yeung joined from Pictet Wealth Management as executive director, relationship manager, reporting to senior client partner Nenita Ang Gabaldon. Au Yeung has over 35 years of wealth management and private banking experience covering Greater China and Philippines markets.

UAE

And in the Middle East, Alasdair Scarr rejoined the bank in June as executive director, relationship manager, reporting to Nash Mithani, head, private banking, UAE, and market head, global South Asian clients. Scarr has more than 35 years of experience, most recently at Citi.

Ahmad Anabtawi also joins the UAE unit as executive director, relationship manager, reporting to Mithani. Anabtawi has 25 years of banking experience and was most recently working at Mashreq Bank.

Growth Ambitions

In 2023, Standard Chartered announced its ambition of attracting $80 billion of net new money over the next three years from affluent clients, including through its private banking unit. It also aims to increase the number of international affluent clients from 274,000 to over 375,000 by 2026.

In the first quarter of 2024, net new money from affluent clients doubled year-on-year to $11 billion.