The newly-appointed figure has worked at BlackRock, UBS and BNP Paribas.

Zurich-headquartered Vontobel has appointed former BlackRock senior figure Clarabelle Ho as head of intermediary clients Asia. 

At Vontobel, she is responsible for developing its distribution business, which includes building links with financial intermediaries.

In all, Ho has more than 15 years’ experience in private and retail bank wholesale fund distribution in Southeast Asia and wider Asia region, Vontobel said.

At BlackRock, Ho was responsible for intermediary distribution as part of the wealth APAC client business team in Singapore. Previously, she was at UBS Asset Management, covering the intermediary fund distribution business in Southeast Asia. She started her career at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, managing Southeast Asia private bank and retail fund distribution. 

Ho holds a bachelor of business management in finance, with a double major in psychology, from the Singapore Management University.

Vontobel has been present in Asia-Pacific since 2008, serving the region with teams in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney.

As of June 30, 2024, Vontobel held around SFr225.9 billion ($259 billion) of total client assets.