DBS targets hiring 40 private bankers for North Asia market

DBS Group, Singapore’s largest lender, is targeting hiring about 40 private bankers this year in Hong Kong and Singapore to cater to wealthy clients in North Asia. 

The bank has hired roughly half of that number so far this year, said Carol Wu, head of private banking for North Asia, at a media briefing in Hong Kong. 

“The big trend is that a lot of mainland Chinese and Taiwanese are looking for offshore wealth management opportunities,” said Wu. “They want to diversify their assets offshore.”

DBS joins rival banks including UBS Group and HSBC Holdings in targeting wealthy Chinese. Amid rising geopolitical tensions, the Singaporean lender has benefited from the desire among wealthy clients to diversify the institutions they bank with. 

The private bank will typically handle clients with at least S$5 million in investable assets. 

Both Hong Kong and Singapore are rival hubs for wealth management. After losing ground during Covid, Hong Kong has been rolling out the red carpet for family offices and the rich with tax concessions as well as residency plans, while Singapore has been grappling with a major money laundering scandal.  

In Hong Kong, the bank has seen a nearly 30 per cent rise in revenues for the private bank in the first five months of 2025, while assets under management jumped about 20 per cent from the previous year, said Wu. During that period, DBS also saw a 130 per cent rise in net new money in Hong Kong, driven by inflows from wealthy mainland Chinese and Taiwanese. 

More of the hiring this year will be in Singapore, after the bank ramped up hiring in Hong Kong last year, when its recruited more than 50 relationship managers, according to Wu. Bloomberg