Change At The Top Of DBS's Private Banking Business

Tom Burroughes

31 October 2016

(This article was first published late on Friday and is repeated here.)

Singapore-headquartered senior banker Rob Ioannou as its new head of international, DBS Private Bank, replacing Olivier Gougeon who has stepped down.

Ioannou’s responsibilities include the bank's South Asia and non-resident Indian teams, Europe, Middle East and Africa geographies, as well as its Japan international segment. He will report to Lawrence Lua, deputy head of DBS Private Bank, the firm said in a statement.

Previously, Ioannou was co-head of HSBC’s Private Bank for Southeast Asia and a director of HSBC Trust Company Singapore. He spent 13 years at HSBC Private Bank, holding a number of senior positions in London and Singapore, including business head for domestic and international markets, and head of UHNW international for HSBC Private Bank in the UK.

With a career in banking spanning more than 20 years, Ioannou started his career with Citibank in London, after which he moved to JP Morgan as a senior coverage private banker for UHNW and international clients.

Outside of his role at DBS, Ioannou is an executive committee member of the Singapore and Sri Lanka Business Association and a senior advisor to the Colombo Chamber of Commerce.

“We will continue to strengthen our franchise by adding to our talent pool and investing in technology, and are fully committed to enhancing the client experience by combining the best of personal service and digital innovation with bespoke wealth solutions,” Lua said.

DBS says it has achieved consistent growth of around 20 per cent per year since 2010, boosted by its acquisition of Societe Generale Private Banking Asia in 2014. As of June 2016, DBS’s high net worth assets under management (HNW individuals with more than S$1.5 million each in investible assets) and assets under management for all wealth customers stood at S$104 billion and S$151 billion respectively. The bank is due to release its third-quarter results on 31 October.

The bank is reportedly one of a number of banks said to be weighing bids for the Asian private banking unit of ABN AMRO, the Netherlands-headquartered bank, although it has not commented on this matter.