Barclays Wealth to Hire in Asia

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The story is an oldie but a goodie: Large bank will hire dozens of wealth managers in, where else, Asia.

This time the bank is Barclays Wealth, and it will increase its 100-member staff in Hong Kong, Singapore and India by 50% by the end of 2012, Chief Executive Thomas Kalaris told The Wall Street Journal.

The unit will focus on hiring senior bankers, or those with at least 10 to 15 years' experience who can bring along relationships and also be "trusted," he said.

"I see the growth of ultra-high-net-worth clients in Asia, and I also see a definite increase in the number of private banks focused on that space," he said. "There is a lot of competition for bankers, and also there is a shallow pool of talent with a limited number of high-quality private bankers, but we are investing in wealth management. So bankers know we're committed."

The hiring fits into the bank's overall strategy of relying more heavily on wealth management as a source of revenue. It hopes to double the number of wealth managers in the Americas to 500 by 2015.

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