UOB swoops on one of Credit Suisse’s top Asian private bankers

UOB has poached Credit Suisse managing director Vincent Tang as its Singapore-based private banking market head for Malaysia. Tang was at Credit Suisse for about 10 years, latterly as market leader for Hong Kong, according to his public profile.

Tang’s hire demonstrates the emerging power of UOB Private Bank to poach talent from larger rivals in Asian wealth management. At the end of last year, the Singaporean firm managed $34bn in assets in Asia, while Tang’s former employer, Credit Suisse, managed $205.1bn, according to data from Asian Private Banker.

His move is similar to that of Heng Yeow Kwang, who was also an MD at a bigger private bank (Bank of Singapore) before joining UOB last year, also as a market head (for Indonesia).

UOB typically attracts private bankers by offering them broader responsibilities, head-office-based jobs, and competitive compensation, say headhunters. Moreover, in contrast to earlier this decade – when the firm was somewhat of an also-ran in private banking – UOB now has a growth story to sell candidates.

In 2018, UOB “added almost 40 private bankers” to its ranks, Ong Yeng Fang, head of private banking at UOB, told the Business Times. “Our expansion plans also included the establishment of a booking centre in Hong Kong last year and we continue to hire talent to spearhead this initiative there,” she said.

New UOB recruit Tang has more than 20 years’ experience in the wealth management industry, covering both Southeast Asia and North Asia clients, according to his profile. He worked as a director at OCBC from 2000 to 2006 and held the same job rank at UBS in Singapore from 2006 to 2009.

Image credit: Getty

We are on Telegram! Join us now 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Email: smortlock@efinancialcareers.com or Telegram: @simonmortlock