The Canada-headquartered firm has created the role of head of wealth planning in Asia, highlighting how it sees this function as significant for the region's wealth management market.

RBC Wealth Management has appointed Vivian Kiang to the newly-formed role of head of wealth planning for Asia. She is based in Hong Kong.

The role involves responsibility for providing bespoke fiduciary structuring services including trust, insurance services, and bundled solutions to high and ultra-high net worth clients in Asia. Kiang joined RBC in late October and reports to Stefan Mueller, head of investments and products for Asia.

Kiang has 16 years of experience; she has performed a number of roles at financial institutions including Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto, where she started her career. Most recently, she held the role of vice president, wealth planner at Citi Private Bank in Hong Kong. She holds an MBA from the University of Hong Kong.

Among recent other moves at the firm, RBC Wealth Management in September hired Anita Wong from Coutts as an executive director to focus on the Hong Kong market. Wong joined from Coutts & Co in Hong Kong, where she was an executive director and private banker.

In August, RBC reported third quarter net income from wealth management stood at C$285 million ($216 million), which is flat compared to a year ago. RBC Wealth Management has more than C$778 billion of assets under administration and over C$503 billion of assets under management.