The Swiss bank has said that Asia is its second "home market." India's relatively young demographic profile and rising middle class make it a natural target for such a firm.

Julius Baer has appointed Umang Papneja as the new chief executive of Julius Baer India, starting from August. Shitin Desai, meanwhile, will retire from the board of Julius Baer Wealth Advisors (India) following more than three decades as the founding member of DSP Investments and later holding senior positions across Merrill Lynch and Julius Baer India, the firm said.

Papneja will report to Rahul Malhotra, head of global India and developed markets, taking over from Ashish Gumashta who will become executive chairman, Julius Baer Wealth Advisors (India), the firm said.

Gumashta will continue to play a major role in driving key client relationships and building effective partnerships with stakeholders and regulators, it added. Papneja joins from IIFL Wealth Management where he was the chief investment officer, providing guidance for investment decisions across asset classes including equities, real estate, fixed income, commodities and alternatives with a focus on continuous product innovation. Prior to joining IIFL Wealth in 2009, he was the head of investments at Societe Generale Private Banking in Mumbai, where he created investment products and ideas for domestic as well as NRI clients of the Global Indian Subcontinent team, the firm said.

Malhotra was confident that with Papneja’s deep onshore knowledge and network, he would be able to drive the firm’s growth strategy and focus on building up a major presence locally by extending the reach into more key cities in India. “With his strong background in investments, he will also steer our local product and infrastructure innovation where we will further develop a broader range of sophisticated and relevant products and services catered to the growing community of high net worth individuals in India,” he said.

India is a core market for Julius Baer and the bank said it expects to solidify its position in the market as the largest foreign private bank in India. The opportunities in India are vast, with India being the sixth largest economy in the world now; it is expected to surpass the US as the second largest by 2050, the firm said. A few days ago, this news service spoke to Ocean Dial Asset Management, a business specialising in the Indian market, about the country's potential.