All three senior figures have backgrounds at lenders such as Deutsche Bank. Two of them will be based in Singapore and the other in London.

Lighthouse Canton, the Singapore-based independent asset manager, has appointed three senior executives to join its leadership.

The appointees are Amrit Singh (pictured), Henrik Aslaksen, and Balaji Prasanna. They will join the firm in the next couple of months following relevant regulatory approvals. They founded AWM Capital after their stints at banks such as Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.

The firm, with $3 billion of assets under management and advisory at the end of 2023, said in a statement this week that it wants to bring in 25 to 30 seasoned professionals across Lighthouse Canton’s wealth management, asset management and investment banking businesses.

Singh and Prasanna will be based in Singapore, while Aslaksen is based in London, the firm said in a statement yesterday. They will all join the executive committee and Singh will also join the board of directors.

The firm, established in 2014, according to its website, serves ultra-high net worth individuals, families and institutional clients. It says it has offices in Singapore, Dubai and India. 

Singh, who is joining as the global head of key clients and institutions, brings more than 25 years of experience, most recently as managing director and head of wealth management for Global South Asia at Deutsche Bank. Previously, Singh held leadership positions in Deutsche Bank’s investment banking division as head of M&A for India, Middle East and Africa, and head of M&A for telecoms in EMEA.

Prasanna has over 35 years in private banking and lending in financial organisations such as Deutsche Bank, where he most recently served as vice chairman. He is joining Lighthouse Canton as executive vice chairman – key client solutions. 

Aslaksen, who is being appointed as president, Lighthouse Canton International, brings more than 30 years of M&A and investment banking expertise, and will work in the firm’s investment banking side. His career includes roles such as executive chairman of investment banking and capital markets EMEA at Credit Suisse and global head of M&A and global co-head of investment banking coverage and advisory at Deutsche Bank. 

“These appointments represent a significant step in our journey and bolster our global wealth and investment banking capabilities with strong client relationships across families and institutions,” Shilpi Chowdhary, group CEO at Lighthouse Canton, said.

The Singapore-based external asset management sector – of which Lighthouse Canton is an example – has grown rapidly in recent years, assisted recently by the launch in the Asian city-state of the variable capital companies (VCC) fund structure. This news service talked a few weeks ago to SingAlliance Pte co-founder Jolene Tan, and president of the Association of Independent Wealth Managers Singapore, about trends in the EAM and single-family offices space.