Published by Finews Asia – 9th May 2017
Credit Suisse is losing a prominent private banker in Asia, prompting the Swiss bank to streamline a product unit. The move comes as the bank deepens spending cuts in the region.
Rajesh Manwani is stepping down as head of investment solutions and products for Credit Suisse’s private bank in Asia, according to an internal memo seen by finews.asia.
“Rajesh Manwani, head of investment solutions and products for private banking Asia Pacific, has informed me of his decision to step down from his role effective early June,” overall Asia solutions head SJ Hwang wrote in a memo to staff last week.
Manwani, who couldn’t be reached by finews.asia, has been with Credit Suisse for nearly ten years, but in his current role for less than two.
Asia Cooling
The cuts come as Credit Suisse pares back its investment bank in the region as activity cools, and as regional head Helman Sitohang throttles hiring at its private bank after walking back a profit target in December.
As a result of Manwani’s exit, four team heads who had previously reported to him will now report directly to Hwang, which plays into the Swiss bank’s scramble to slash its spending as business softens.
The regional executives are alternatives head Donald Rice, portfolio solutions head Tan Wei Mei, fund and ETF boss Rodolphe Larque and Bernard Fung, who is head of wealth planning services.
Faster, More Efficient
“We believe that this new and simplified organizational structure will provide all our teams greater empowerment to drive efficiency through shorter decision-making cycles and in turn accelerate the delivery of investment solutions and products to our clients,” wrote Hwang, who also thanked Manwani in the memo.
Hwang will partly oversee investment management, the Chief Investment Officer and private banking research in the region as well as wealth planning in Hong Kong, which will all report to their respective product and solution units in the private bank.
