Julius Baer, the Swiss wealth management firm, has appointed Mark Matthews as head of investment research in Singapore, Reuters reveals.

Citing unnamed sources, the publication said that Matthews will be joining the company very soon, without giving a definite timeline. Matthews most recently served as Asia strategist for Macquarie and had worked as chief Asia strategist for Merrill Lynch and at Fox-Pitt Kelton prior to that.

Among recent Asia developments, the private bank has been granted an investment quota for the recently acquired licence that enables the private bank’s clients to directly invest in the onshore China market. It was granted a quota of $100 million under its QFII licence by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in China. The licence was originally granted in December last year; Julius Baer said it is the only private bank to hold this licence, giving clients access to onshore equity and bond markets.

Julius Baer has a wide network in Asia, particularly in Singapore and Hong Kong. It also has an onshore presence in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is planning to open a representative office in China over the next months.