United Overseas's private bank to increase headcount fivefold

United Overseas Bank, Singapore’s smallest bank by market value, plans to increase the number of private bankers it employs by fivefold in the next five years.

The bank intends to expand headcount from 40 to about 200 people, Wilson Aw, executive director of UOB and head of its private banking division, said in an interview in Singapore today. The group aims to grow its private banking assets under management to $50 billion to $60 billion in that timeframe, from “well above” US$10 billion ($12.2 billion) now, he said.

Private banks in Asia have been adding to their headcount as the region’s millionaires surpassed that of Europe. The wealth of 3.3 million high net worth individuals in Asia-Pacific climbed to US$10.8 trillion last year, exceeding the US$10.2 trillion held by 3.1 million people in Europe, according to a survey by Capgemini SA and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.