Sarasin Rabo Investment Management, an arm of Swiss private bank Sarasin, has hired Stella Kong for the newly-created position of vice chairman for Greater China. Ms Kong was most recently head of private banking for China at ABN Amro. Before that, she headed the Taiwan team and was deputy head of private banking at Deutsche Bank and was head of the Taiwan team at UBS for three years. She will report to Enid Yip, vice chairman for Asia. Both are based in Hong Kong. Ms Kong will lead Sarasin’s strategic development in Greater China, which is part of the firm’s aim of building its wealth management business in Asia. Ms Yip said: “While the existing regulatory environment makes it challenging for a bank of our size to operate a full-fledged subsidiary providing Swiss-style banking services in China at this moment, we are naturally interested in creating awareness of Swiss banking in this growth market. Swiss banks have an advantage in China. They are perceived as special and reliable and are appreciated for their discretion. “We are obviously always assessing whether to create a small presence, such as a representative office, as part of our ongoing strategic evaluations. We have not, however, formed a final decision at this moment.”