RBC Boosts Transatlantic Private Client Team In London

Tom Burroughes

21 September 2012

Canada’s RBC Wealth Management has appointed Shehreen Quayyum and Jaime Zuloaga as directors for the Americas desk at the firm’s London-based UK private client wealth management team, continuing a number of recent senior moves.

Quayyuum – formerly of HSBC – and Zuloaga – formerly of Barclays – report to Martin Heale, who was appointed head of Americas in July last year, according to a statement from RBC.

The existence of an Americas desk highlights how RBC, which holds a licence from the Securities and Exchange Commission, is making a virtue out of being a North American bank at a time when some large non-US firms have ceased providing services to expat US citizens due to the regulatory burdens perceived in the US FATCA Act. (To view a recent interview with RBC about its international strategy and related issues such as branding, click here.)

At HSBC Private Bank, Quayyum was an associate director on the international team, where she focused on managing relationships with UK resident/non-domiciled clients with a link to North America. Before that, she worked at HSBC Bank Canada in Toronto.

Zuloaga has 13 years’ experience in the wealth management industry; at Barclays, he was the business strategy director in the ultra high net worth and family offices unit. Before that, he held various positions within Citigroup’s wealth management business in Mexico and overseas, latterly as head of the Latin American desk based in London.

Working with advisors on both sides of the Atlantic, Quayyum will provide wealth management services to US clients residing in the UK or the US, while Zuloaga will give advice on bespoke solutions to high net and ultra high net worth Latin American clients resident either in the UK or overseas, including families with links to the US.

“The growth of our Americas team is a direct response to increasing appetite we’re seeing from Latin American and US-linked high net worth clients looking for a safe and secure institution to manage their assets out of London,” Mike Moodie, head of RBC Wealth Management UK, said in a statement.

Among recent moves, RBC Wealth Management appointed Steve Sokić as head of ultra high net worth, trust, fiduciary and tax - a newly-created role for which Sokić has relocated from Jersey to Toronto. In late August, it hired former HSBC relationship manager Ben Taylor as a director on its London-based Middle East and Levant desk.