The independent investment firm in Asia continues its expansion drive, and there is more to come, its founder says.

Singapore-headquartered Thirdrock, an independent investment management firm, one of a group of such firms expanding in the region, has brought over five wealth professionals, including two senior private bankers, to its client advisory team. The team size now stands at 20 people.

This month, Thirdrock hired Arthur Fong as senior client advisor. With nearly three decades of banking experience, most of which were spent in private banking, he was most recently managing director, Greater China market as well as the deputy Singapore location head for the Greater China business at Bank of Singapore. An IBF Fellow, Fong has also held leadership roles in various global private banks, including Credit Suisse, Citi Private Bank and UBS in Singapore and previously served as an elected Member of the Singapore Parliament.

Previously, Thirdrock also appointed senior private banking professional Martin Lim as senior client advisor. Limn joined from Standard Chartered Private Bank where he was executive director and head of the Malaysia team. Prior to that, he was executive director and desk head of the Malaysia team at UBS and has held similar roles in various banks such as Barclays Private Bank and UOB.

Other additions to the team include Richard Lewis, Rainer Teo and Nikhil Niyogi, all of whom are career private bankers with international experience in private banking and wealth management in leading financial institutions.

The firm is among a number of independent wealth management firms that have taken root in the Asia region recently; this publication has researched the sector (see here).

“This reflects our commitment to growing the firm and also our belief in the potential of the IAM industry,” Jason Lai, chief executive officer and founder, Thirdrock Group, said. “This will continue to be a priority in the months and years ahead.”

“We remain focused on hiring, grooming and retaining talent who are committed to advising and to acting in the best interests of our clients, as we believe this is a critical lynchpin of the firm’s long-term success. At the same time, we continue to enhance our technology infrastructure and business processes to empower our client advisors with digital tools and improve on operational effiicency and productivity," Lai added.