Standard Chartered has announced that it will bring in 300 more relationship managers over the next three years, in light of the expansion plans for its mass affluent banking business, according to a report by the Straits Times.

The bank has under 200 relationship managers in its priority banking business in the city state, according to Ngo Min Ying, general manager of premium banking at the Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore and Malaysia. About 80 new relationship managers have already been hired this year.

As exclusively reported by WealthBriefing earlier this year, Standard Chartered’s private banking division, which caters to high net worth individuals, is also on an aggressive hiring drive in the Asian region, which is where the UK-listed bank earns a high proportion of its total business.

Priority banking caters to individuals who have a net worth of more than S$200,000 (around $140,000), the newspaper said.

At a media launch today, Ms Foo Mee Har, global head for premium banking at the Standard Chartered Bank Group, cited research that shows a huge growth potential in the segment of affluent individuals in Asia, tipped as the fastest growing segment in the world.

The affluent segment in Asia, excluding Japan, grew at about 16 per cent between 2003 and 2008. It is currently growing at about 12 per cent, about three times the rate of the European and North American affluent segment.

By 2012, Ms Har said that the Asian segment will be seeing around 22 million individuals in the affluent demographic, 46 per cent of whom will be new entrants.

Standard Chartered is introducing its new priority banking push in several Asian countries, including the UAE, China, and India.

The bank did not immediately return calls from WealthBriefing on the matter.