The newly-created team sees three new joiners, two of whom come from BSI, the Generali-owned bank that has been put up for sale. 

The appointments reflect a recent trend of Swiss and other Western firms seeking to penetrate the potentially vast Chinese market for high net worth individuals in recent years.

Tse Meng Ng joins Pictet from BSI, where he has led the recently-formed North Asia team as managing director since June last year, having previously worked at Credit Suisse. Ng specialises in Chinese-speaking ultra-high net worth individuals and is based in Singapore.

Serene Ng also joins from BSI, where she worked under Tse Meng Ng as a director. She was previously at Standard Chartered and American Express, and is also based in Singapore.

Paul Yu, also joining the Pictet team to cover China, will be based in Hong Kong, where he has been working as a private banker. He was previously situated in China, where he worked for a securities firm.

Since the beginning of this year, the wealth management arm of Pictet has also started providing Renminbi services to its clients, through the Hong Kong office.

The venerable Swiss firm has expanded its Asian presence, having received a banking licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in April last year.