RBC Wealth Management, part of Royal Bank of Canada, has made a number of senior appointments to its private wealth management leadership team.

Tho Gea Hong, managing director, head of WM South East Asia, has also been appointed chief executive Singapore Branch. In this role, Tho will continue to lead the Singapore-based private banking team, in addition to heading up the business from a regulatory standpoint.

Mike Reed joins as managing director, head of distribution strategy, RBC Wealth Management – Asia. In this role, he will develop geographic and client segment strategies and drive the implementation of growth-focused sales and wealth planning initiatives. Throughout his 18-year tenure with RBC, Reed has held leadership roles in Canada, the US and, most recently, the UK, where he was managing director, head of multi-family offices.

Chen Yang joins as managing director, head of business strategy, RBC Wealth Management – Asia. In this role, Yang will be responsible for implementing business strategies to position the business for sustainable growth in an evolving marketplace. Yang brings to this role seven years’ leadership experience with RBC to his new role, as well as a number of years as a senior management consultant.

Commenting on the appointments, Peter Corry, head of RBC Wealth Management – Asia says: “As we continue to bring the best of RBC to our private wealth clients, I’m pleased to welcome both Mike and Chen to RBC Wealth Management – Asia’s leadership team and congratulate Gea Hong on her promotion. Their considerable industry experience will help us continue to provide our clients with the exceptional service experience they have come to expect, while enhancing our competitiveness through the execution of our strategy in a rapidly changing industry.”

Reed and Yang relocate to Hong Kong from London and Toronto, respectively, and report to Corry, who is located in Singapore. Tho will continue to be based in Singapore and report to Corry.

Stefan Mueller joins RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM), the asset management division of Royal Bank of Canada, as managing director, next generation asset management. In his new role, Mueller is charged with exploring and pursuing the asset management implications of blockchain – both potential near-term incremental improvements to RBC GAM's existing business processes and longer-term transformational possibilities that blockchain might create for the asset management industry. Mueller reports to Damon Williams, chief executive officer, RBC GAM, and will continue to be based in Singapore. Prior to this appointment, Mueller served as chief operating officer of RBC Wealth Management - Asia and led its investment team since 2014.

In addition to these appointments, RBC Wealth Management also recently welcomed five individuals to its private banking teams in Hong Kong and Singapore:

Derek Leung joins as director, relationship manager, from ANZ, where he was director, private banking – international team, serving sophisticated HNW and UHNW clients in North Asia.

Rita Yeung joins as director, relationship manager, from EFG Bank, where she focused on HNW and UHNW clients throughout Greater China.

Cherry Lee joins as director, Greater China, from RBC Personal & Commercial Banking in Toronto, in a new role developing deeper relationships between Greater China and North America.

Timothy Cheng joins as associate director, relationship manager from Westpac, where he held management and client relationship roles.

Irene Ng joins the Singapore office as associate director, relationship manager from ANZ, where she was private banker, associate director, global wealth.