The Brazilian-Swiss firm has lost the head of its Singapore office after less than two years. The departure is a setback for the private bank's expansion efforts in Asia.
J. Safra Sarasin's Singapore branch head Benedikt Maissen has left the bank, a spokeswoman confirmed to finews.com. He had been poached in 2016 from Societe Generale, where he ran the French bank's Zurich branch for two years.
But Maissen's experience and expertise is in Asia: he spent several years in Singapore for SocGen as well as for Barclays' wealth outfit. His departure after just 21 months is a setback for Safra Sarasin and Enid Yip, the private bank's head in wider Asia.
Maissen had sought to expand the bank in Asia, for example poaching from Julius Baer for southeast Asia and Indonesia, or by targeting independent asset managers. The bank didn't disclose stand-in plans for Maissen, who couldn't be reached by finews.com.
