HSBC has appointed Greg Hingston as the regional head of wealth and personal banking (WPB) in Asia-Pacific, which will be effective from 1 April 2020, according to a statement from the firm.
Hingston will replace Kevin Martin who has become chief operating officer and head of digital transformation in WPB, a spokeswoman for the firm told FSA.
This appointment comes after the firm restructured its wealth management operation into a global WPB unit earlier this month, combining retail banking, wealth management and global private banking.
“Based in Hong Kong, Hingston will be responsible for delivering the WPB strategy in Asia, driving market share growth, shaping customer experience, delivering compelling and increasingly digital propositions for the entire spectrum of private wealth, from retail clients to ultra high net worth individuals,” the spokeswoman said.
Hingston will report to Charlie Nunn, CEO of WPB and Peter Wong, deputy chairman and chief executive of the bank in Asia-Pacific, the spokeswoman added.
Moreover, Hingston has been with the firm for nearly 14 years and is currently the head of WPB in Hong Kong, according to the statement.
His previous leadership roles include global head of strategy for retail banking and wealth management, head of customer value management and regional head of retail banking in Emea, the statement noted.
“As head of our retail business in Hong Kong, Hingston was instrumental in driving growth and evolving customer experience, including bringing our social payment platform Pay Me to around 1.9 million people,” Nunn said in the statement.
Global restructuring
HSBC last month reported a $7.3bn drop in annual profit and pledged to cut 35,000 jobs or 15% of its global workforce over three years. The recent restructuring of its wealth business will ideally help to reduce cost.
Despite the downbeat annual results in 2019, the bank insists initial recruitment plans for its wealth teams in Asia are unaffected.
“We earlier announced we will hire around 1,300 positions in retail and private banking in Asia by 2022. Recruitment for wealth teams across Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China for retail and private banking is on track as we recruited 800 people to end 2019, including private bank relationship managers, Jade directors and RMs, investment and insurance specialists and other sales support staff,” the spokeswoman told FSA.
In Asia, 2019 wealth revenues grew 12% year-on-year to $5.7bn, the statement noted.
