THE growing war over private banking talent is hotting up.
Barclays Wealth, the global wealth management division of the British bank, has snared three senior private bankers from Swiss rival UBS to beef up its Singapore-based South Asia team serving wealthy non-resident Indians.
Barclays' biggest catch is Mr Vikram Malhotra, former UBS managing director and country team head of India International, who joined Barclays Wealth yesterday as new managing director and head of South Asia.
Mr Malhotra will lead a team of Hong Kong and Singapore-based bankers offering wealth management services to South Asia clients.
He has more than 15 years of corporate and private banking experience in Asia.
Mr Vinay Gandhi, who joined UBS from JPMorgan Private Bank earlier this month, will be Mr Malhotra's replacement at UBS.
Also making an exit from UBS are senior bankers Jagdish Kale and Rohit Nanani, who will be joining Barclays Wealth as directors on Feb 24.
This latest round of high-stakes musical chairs is reminiscent of last August, when Mr Malhotra's predecessor at UBS Srinivas Siripurapu assumed the role of head of South-east Asia and South Asia at Barclays Wealth. Mr Malhotra then took up the post.
With the latest switches, a total of 13 bankers serving non-resident Indians would have left UBS for Barclays Wealth since August.
This means the private banking arm of Barclays has more than 20 relationship managers dealing with South Asia clients.
The Straits Times understands that the team - including assistant relationship managers - has a total headcount of about 40.
The spate of hirings at Barclays comes in tandem with the growing assets of the South Asian wealthy, especially in rapidly emerging India.
'Asia is a key growth market for private banks, and Barclays Wealth is well-positioned to tap on the rapid wealth creation in the region, with our Asian clients served out of our three hubs in Hong Kong, India and Singapore,' said Barclays Wealth Asia Pacific chief executive Didier von Daeniken.
'We continue to focus on selectively hiring very senior and experienced bankers serving the key markets of Greater China, India and Indonesia.'