Barclays Wealth has made a key appointment for the Latin American market, underscoring the rising importance of this region as a wealth management field.

Barclays Wealth has appointed Daniel Esslinger - latterly of Banco Itaú (Suisse) - as head of Latin American relationship management and head of distribution in the Americas.

Esslinger had been head of private banking at Banco Itaú (Suisse), having previously held various private banking roles at Credit Suisse in Switzerland and then with its domestic rival UBS in Brazil, Panama and Miami.

Expanding wealth in countries such as Brazil and Chile - in part fuelled by forces such as rising commodity prices - has drawn a number of major banking groups to prospect for high net worth clients in Latin America, such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Barclays.

The Latin American market is a particular focus for Barclays Wealth in the Americas and the firm - part of UK-listed Barclays - underscored its commitment to this client segment in December of last year when it appointed Philippe Sednaoui, who was then head of Switzerland, as global head of Latin America. In his new role Esslinger will be based in Miami, reporting jointly to Sednaoui and Steve Houston, head of wealth management for the Americas.

In another recent senior hire, earlier this month Barclays Wealth named Julia Church as head of wealth advisory in Guernsey. Church was latterly a board director responsible for trust management at Credit Suisse Trust, also in Guernsey.