Mr Anthony Adriano Simcic, Managing Director, Bank of Singapore. PHOTO: BANK OF SINGAPORE BANK OF SINGAPORE

With Europe contributing a sizable share of the world’s freshly minted high net-worth individuals (HNWI), a senior hire will now boost Bank of Singapore’s coverage of that continent.

Mr Anthony Adriano Simcic, 41, joins as Managing Director with the International team of Bank of Singapore, on 12 March 2018. Mr Simcic, a French-Italian by nationality with more than 18 years of banking experience, will report directly to Mr Olivier Denis, Global Market Head for Singapore, Malaysia and International.

Prior to joining Bank of Singapore, Mr Simcic was Managing Director and Head of Private Banking with HSBC Private Bank in Luxembourg. He holds a Master’s Degree in European Studies from the London School of Economics as well as a Political Science and a Bachelor’s Degree (Hon) in Economics from the University of Warwick.

While growth in assets under management from Bank of Singapore’s European clients is already robust, Mr Simcic has been specifically tasked with deepening the bank’s presence in the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA comprises the European Union (EU) countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

According to the 2017 Capegemini World Wealth Report, Europe contributed substantially to the increase of high-net worth individuals (HNWI) population and wealth in the world in 2016.

The number of HNWIs in Europe rose by 7.7% to 4.5 million - higher than the 7.4% recorded for Asia-Pacific. In terms of HNWI wealth, Europe registered the third highest growth (8.2%) by region. This was on par with the Asia-Pacific region and just behind Latin America and Africa.

Russia, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and France led the upturn in HNWI population in Europe with their growth rates outpacing the global average of 7.5%. Notably, Russia achieved the world’s highest HNWI population growth (19.7%).

Europe’s wealth is estimated to increase to US$16.5 trillion in 2018 based on the 2016 edition of the report.

Commenting on Mr Simcic’s appointment, Mr Olivier Denis, Global Market Head of Singapore, Malaysia and International said, “Since the global financial crisis in 2008, there has been rising interest among European HNWIs and family offices to consider an alternative wealth hub in Asia, especially Singapore. As a Singapore headquartered private bank with a deep knowledge about and extensive insight into Asia, Bank of Singapore has been a natural choice for many of them.  Our ability to help them with their investments in Asia by extending a broad array of commercial banking capabilities across OCBC Bank’s regional and international network is an attractive value proposition for them to tap on. 

“Anthony’s extensive experience and leadership qualities will lend strength to our team as we continue to grow our market share and deepen client relationships by enhancing the quality of our services to our clients, existing and new.”

Bank of Singapore is the private banking subsidiary of OCBC Bank, the longest established Singapore bank. Incepted in 2010, Bank of Singapore is consistently ranked as the leading private bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia. It is headquartered in Singapore, which has a burgeoning reputation as an established centre for wealth management globally and in Asia.

As at 31 December 2017, Bank of Singapore’s AUM stood at US$99 billion, 25% higher than a year ago.