Chasing Asia's wealth

Private bankers are playing musical chairs again as they woo Asia’s growing abundance of wealthy families and individuals.

The region’s 3.3 million high-net-worth individuals HNWIs are second in number to North America, and this year they jumped ahead of Europe, according to the Capgemini Merrill Lynch 2011 World Wealth Report released earlier this year.

And the banking business is growing. Assets under management held by the top 20 Asia-Pacific banks has increased by 89% to more than $1 trillion since the last survey of its kind in 2007, according to a survey of the region’s leading private banks released in mid-October by Private Banker International....