By Gabriel Chen

THE global financial crisis has done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of private banking chiefs for Asia, including China and the Middle East.

Banks targeting wealthy individuals are ramping up their hiring while some senior executives from Europe are re-locating to the region to be closer to their new growth centres.

HSBC group private banking chief executive Chris Meares told a conference at the Fullerton Hotel yesterday that the region remains a growth spot for the firm.

Mr Meares expects the proportion of its Asian assets to rise from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of its total assets over the next five years. He also said other parts of its business such as in Latin America and the Middle East are growing strongly as well.

Another sign of HSBC's confidence in Asia is its recent announcement that its global chief executive, Mr Michael Geoghegan, would move from London to Hong Kong.

'Asian wealth is going to grow astronomically,' Mr Meares said at the 19th Private Banker International Wealth Management Summit.

'Am I going to move here? I've been asked a few times in the last week. I've spent many years in Asia myself,' said Mr Meares, who is based in Britain but has worked in Hong Kong for several years.

'At the moment, about two-thirds of our business is still in Europe, so it probably makes sense for me to remain in Europe for a while, but I never say never.'

Asia's potential is huge. A Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini report in June found that overall financial wealth of high net worth individuals is expected to grow to US$48.5 trillion (S$68.6 trillion) by 2013.

North America and Asia-Pacific are predicted to lead in wealth growth, with the latter region surpassing the former by 2013, the findings showed.

Bank Julius Baer is another institution that sees opportunity in the region.

Chief operating officer Markus Kobler told the summit that the bank envisaged making Hong Kong another Asian centre for its booking of client assets. The Swiss bank already has a booking centre in Singapore.

The surge in interest also spells opportunities for job seekers.

Dr Francois Monnet, Credit Suisse's head of private banking for South-east Asia and Australasia, is looking for relationship managers in the region.

The bank has raised the number of its relationship managers by 20 per cent to nearly 400 over the past 12 months.

'We don't put a limit on our growth ambition... We continue to hire talented people,' Dr Monnet said yesterday.

SG Private Banking global CEO Daniel Truchi told The Straits Times that Asia represents about 15 per cent to 17 per cent of its overall private banking business and this figure could grow to as much as 20 per cent in the next three years.

China will play a big part in its growth, as the bank recently won approval to sell yuan-denominated investment products and to transact with Chinese residents in that currency.

'China will be one of the most important markets for us in Asia for domestic private banking,' Mr Truchi said. 'For international private banking, Hong Kong and Singapore will remain key for us.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.