One of the major wealth management firms operating in Asia has made a clutch of senior hires, this publication can disclose.

RBC Wealth Management has unveiled a number of senior hires, this publication can exclusively report today.

Tho Gea Hong, managing director, head of WM for Southeast Asia, has also been appointed chief executive for the 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, RBC told this news service in  a statement.

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

Chen Yang joins as MD, head of business strategy, RBC Wealth Management in Asia. In this role, Yang has seven years of  leadership experience with RBC; he also has worked for several years as a senior management consultant.

Reed and Yang relocate to Hong Kong from London and Toronto, respectively, and report to Peter Corry, head of RBC Wealth Management, Asia. Corry is located in Singapore.

Other appointments
Stefan Mueller joins RBC Global Asset Management, the asset management division of Royal Bank of Canada, as MD, Next Generation Asset Management. In his new role, Mueller examines and pursues the asset management implications of blockchain technology. Mueller reports to Damon Williams, chief executive, RBC GAM, and will continue to be based in Singapore. Prior to this, Mueller served as chief operating officer of RBC Wealth Management, Asia and led its investment team since 2014.

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 high net worth individuals and ultra-high net worth individual 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; and

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