Julius Baer Expands in India

The Swiss-based bank is recruiting a total of 11 advisors. The new hires will be spread across Julius Baer’s Indian branches in Chennai, New Delhi, Calcutta, and Mumbai.

Asia head Jimmy Lee said this summer that India is a core growth market, along with China and Indonesia, and of course major hubs Singapore and Hong Kong. Julius Baer has massively built its imprint in Asia with the 2012 acquisition of Merrill Lynch’s private bank outside the U.S. – a method the bank is keen to continue, as Lee recently said.

Growth by M&A

Since then, the bank has built out its business on the Indian subcontinent, including taking an entire team from now-defunct Banca Svizzera della Italiana, or BSI.

The 11 bankers will report to Ashish Gumashta, CEO of Julius Baer Wealth Advisers in India, who took over last year following the exit of Rahul Singh last July. Gumashta was a veteran of Merrill Lynch in India, and instrumental in the integration into the Swiss private bank following the deal.