Falcon Private Bank is bolstering its stable of relationship managers with the view to hire as many as 15 new RMs by the end of 2011.

The bank, owned by Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments, is looking to double its asset management base over the next five years, from its current AuM of $12 billion (as of 30 September 2010). So far this year, Falcon has increased its private client holdings by 42 per cent to $5.1 billion.

In an interview with Bloomberg, chief executive Eduardo Leemann said that hiring top talent in Asia, in particular, is crucial, as clients tend to go where their trusted RMs go.

"A private banker who gets 30 per cent of his clients' assets to follow him would a huge success, and 10 per cent is the break-even scenario," Leemann was quoted as having said.

"Our target is amibitious but there's growth in the East and we have a much better chance than a bank with most of its clients in Europe," Leemann added.

Falcon Private Bank was acquired by Aabar from AIG in 2008. The bank has offices in Zurich, Geneva, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai.