HSBC Private Bank recently bolstered its Asian investment strategy division with a new head.

HSBC Private Bank, the wealth management arm of HSBC Group, has bolstered its Asian investment strategy division with the appointment of a new head.

Benjamin Pedley returns to HSBC in Hong Kong after leaving in December 2012 to go back to Australia for personal reasons. In his new role, Pedley will be in charge of delivering the bank's investment strategies to clients in both North and South East Asia, with a focus on developing research ideas to improve services for high net worth investors. He reports to Olivier Pacton, regional head of private bank investment group.

Before HSBC, Pedley was the regional head of advisory services for LGT Bank in Hong Kong and Singapore. He also served UBS Wealth Management and Macquarie Bank. 

HSBC Private Bank's Asia offices are in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines and Taiwan.

The global private banking arm of HSBC recently reported a pre-tax profit of $108 million in the half-year to 30 June, down from $527 million a year ago, although the drop was lower when one-off factors were taken into account. On an underlying basis, excluding the gain on the sale of HSBC’s operations in Japan, pre-tax profit at the global private bank was down by $349 million due to the loss following the reclassification of its Monaco business to “held” for sale, partly offset by decreased operating businesses. (In mid-July, HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse), decided keep its private banking business in Monaco after reviewing unsolicited expressions of interest.)