Manulife Singapore, part of Manulife Financial, the Canadian financial services firm, has established a wealth management business in Singapore and made a trio of senior appointments in the city-state, following a raft of hires in Asia. 

Kwok Keng Han joins the company as senior vice president and chief of wealth management, responsible for establishing the division. He transfers from Allianz Global Investors Singapore where he served as deputy chief executive and head of institutional business for South East Asia and Greater China. With 20 years of financial services experience he will be responsible for leading the unit's growth strategy in Singapore. 

Hitesh Shah joins as senior vice president and chief marketing officer, responsible for product development and management, customer relationship management, branding and marketing. He steps in from Prudential Assurance Singapore where he led the product management and business intelligence functions. He brings over 25 years of experience in financial services, covering marketing, product management, consulting, mergers and acquisitions and business development. 

Completing the trio of hires is Goh Lee Kian who is senior vice president and chief human resources officer. Goh has 24 years of senior HR experience, 13 of which were regional functions in the Asia Pacific, Korea and Japan. The firm could not immediately confirm her previous post. 

"Wealth management is a significant focus for our business and setting up this new business unit allows us to capitalise on new opportunities in the wealth space," said Annette King, president and chief executive of Manulife Singapore, in a statement. 

"Manulife manages $498 billion in assets globally as of 30 June 2011 and with Singapore as the third largest wealth management hub in the world and growing, we want to have a strong presence here," added King. 

The drive to build a strong presence in the city-state is evident, what with the appointment of four senior executives in Singapore over the past weeks. Khim Hau Ng was named senior director for fixed income, Lisa Yong as senior director for equities, Vincent Teo as head of the newly-created wholesale sales and reports unit and Keith Cheang as head of compliance. 

Manulife Singapore has previously said it is expanding its assets under management by 50 per cent and its headcount from 19 to 30 by the end of 2013. (See related story here.)