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British fund manager Schroders (SDR.L) has applied for a banking license in Singapore as a first step to expanding its private banking business to Asia from Europe, the firm's Asia Pacific CEO Lester Gray said.
Schroders, which has full-fledged private banking operations in the UK, Switzerland and the Channel Islands, currently offers private client advisory in Singapore with a staff of around 20.
The company will hire more people in Singapore after it receives a wholesale banking license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore that will allow it to operate as a private bank, Gray said without giving figures.
“At some stage, we will grow the business outside of Singapore... We do see private wealth opportunities in the region as being greater than just Singapore although Singapore will be the regional hub,” Gray told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
Schroders had about 12 billion pounds ($25.7 billion) private banking assets under management at the end of September 2009.
It made its foray into Asia's wealth management industry through its purchase of Commonwealth Bank of Australia's private client business in 2008.
