RBC Wealth Management Asia has promoted Daniel Soo to managing director and head of private banking for Singapore, alongside five new hires in Singapore and two in Hong Kong.

RBC Wealth Management Asia, the Asian wealth business of Royal Bank of Canada, has appointed Daniel Soo as managing director and head of private banking, Singapore. The firm has also hired seven bankers across Singapore and Hong Kong.

Soo will be succeeding Kamran Azim as head of Private Banking, Singapore, a spokesperson for RBC told this news service when asked about the matter. As previously announced, Azim will take on the role of head of Wealth Management Asia, succeeding Rod Ireland following his retirement.

Soo, who joined RBC in 2024 as market head, has expanded the Singapore private banking team. In his new role, he will lead execution of the bank’s private banking strategy in the city-state, in particular winning clients across key Asian markets. He previously served in senior roles at UBS, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered Private Bank, RBC said in a statement yesterday. 

In Singapore, Patrick Foo is joining as executive director and team lead, covering Greater China clients. He has held senior posts at Citibank, UBS and Standard Chartered Bank.

Jason Yuan, executive director, has worked at CTBC Bank Singapore, Bank Julius Baer, UOB Private Bank, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered Bank Taiwan.

Sam Polson, executive director, is joining from Barclays Private Bank in Singapore to cover ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices across Asia-Pacific.

Audrey Neo, director, is joining from CTBC Bank Singapore. Previously, she worked at Bank J Safra Sarasin, UBS Wealth Management and Citi Private Bank.

Louisa Wen, associate director, was previously at Citibank in Singapore. Her earlier roles include positions at Far East Organization and Vacheron Constantin.

In Hong Kong, Jackson Huang, who is joining as director from Bank J Safra Sarasin, will specialise in Greater China ultra-high net worth and family office clients. He has also worked at DBS Private Bank, Julius Baer and Goldman Sachs.

Malcolm Chai, associate director, joining from UBS Hong Kong, previously worked at Julius Baer and OCBC Bank.

Along with its international and domestic peers in Asia, RBC seeks to capture wealth creation and transfer in Asia. For example, Hong Kong’s IPO market remains brisk and is an important source of new wealth. Rising Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia keep minting new millionaires. 

As noted here in this editorial commentary, DBS intends to appoint at least 600 relationship managers and platform engineers by the end of 2028; OCBC set out a target of hiring 600 relationship managers in the consumer banking wealth business over the next three years; HSBC intends to hire 100 relationship managers across its premier and private banking segments over the next two years; Citigroup plans to hire about 100 private bankers globally, with a significant chunk in Asia; and Julius Baer's Asian business is also an important hiring area.

According to Boston Consulting Group in November last year, by 2029, private wealth in the region is projected to reach $99 trillion.