Even in the fast-growing Asian high-net-worth market, a wealth manager increasing its headcount from 38 to 180 in six months is startling. The success of Swiss private bank BSI in attracting this talent so quickly seems to be down to its well respected regional head and the unusually lucrative contracts it has offered.
The firm put down a marker last year by snaring ex-RBS Coutts co-chief executive Hanspeter Brunner to run its Asia operations in Singapore, and it has reinforced that commitment with a near-fivefold staff increase in the Lion City since September, largely poached from Coutts.
Fifty of the executives -- more than a quarter...