Bank of Singapore deepens Global South Asia franchise as UHNW and family-office capabilities expand in parallel

Bank of Singapore is systematically expanding its Global South Asia franchise. The latest appointment, former UBS banker Anirudh Singh as senior relationship manager effective 12 November, continues a deliberate hiring programme that has brought in multiple team heads and relationship managers over the past year.

Singh will report to Bikram Sen, Market Head for Global South Asia and International, and join a team that has recently added Ankit Swaika and Yatish Aron as team heads, together with relationship manager Diya Amarnani. Earlier strategic hires include professionals from HSBC Private Bank, Julius Baer and UBS. The franchise sits under Zubin Dabu, Market Group Head for Middle East, Global South Asia and International.

The bank has described Global South Asia as an important growth segment. The corridor links non-resident Indian and broader South Asian wealth based in Singapore, the Middle East and other international centres with the bank’s Singapore and Dubai platforms. Parallel hiring in Dubai has reinforced coverage of the same client base from the Gulf side.

This South Asia build-out is occurring alongside a wider ultra-high-net-worth and family-office push. Bank of Singapore has stated a target of 30 percent growth in global UHNW assets under management by 2028. The bank surpassed its earlier US$145 billion AUM target and recorded more than 20 percent global AUM growth in 2025. Relationship manager numbers have risen past 500.

On the solutions side, the Family Office and Wealth Advisory team has been strengthened with senior appointments focused on structuring, succession and philanthropy. The bank has also launched dedicated platforms, including the Family Office Catalyst, aimed at UHNW clients seeking professionalised wealth arrangements that can later evolve into single-family-office structures.

The dual track, geographic deepening in South Asia combined with product and advisory deepening for UHNW and family clients, reflects a clear strategic choice. Bank of Singapore is positioning itself to capture both the flow of South Asian wealth into Singapore and Dubai and the growing complexity of needs among the ultra-high-net-worth segment that increasingly expects integrated banking, investment, structuring and legacy solutions.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of OCBC, the private bank benefits from the group’s “Whole-of-Wealth” and “Next Frontier” strategy, which seeks to connect private banking more closely with the parent’s broader banking and insurance capabilities. For clients, that integration can reduce friction across onshore and offshore needs. For the bank, it creates a wider set of revenue and relationship opportunities within the same family or corporate group.

The South Asia corridor is particularly well suited to this model. Many clients maintain interests across India, the Gulf, Singapore and other centres. Coverage teams that can operate across those locations, supported by structuring and family-office expertise, are better placed to retain and expand relationships as wealth transfers and business interests evolve.

Competition for the same talent and the same clients remains intense. The consistency of Bank of Singapore’s hiring over the past twelve months, however, indicates that the South Asia franchise is not a tactical response but a multi-year investment in a corridor the bank regards as structurally attractive.