Nomura Holdings' global wealth management business is now expanding its wealth management teams in Singapore and Dubai after it achieved profitability a year and a half ahead of schedule.

Ravi Raju, head of international wealth management business at Nomura Holdings, disclosed in an interview with Bloomberg that Nomura is moving to a new office in Dubai, with the location space doubled compared to the current location and can accommodate 60 employees. After Nomura expanded his team in Hong Kong in 2024, he is currently recruiting in Singapore. However, Ravi did not disclose the specific number of people recruited to Bloomberg.

According to reports, Nomura Holdings, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, was 18 months ahead of the previous target, making its global business profitable. Against the backdrop of profit recovery and investors' interest in the Japanese market rekindled, Nomura will also focus on developing private banking business.

“We are working hard to strengthen the momentum of our businesses gathering assets,” Ravi said in an interview in Singapore.

He pointed out that entrepreneurs from Thailand and Indonesia, high net worth and family-run joint ventures with Japanese companies tend to connect with Nomura Holdings, especially when Japan's economic prosperity is in full swing.

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Bloomberg: Nomura Asia Investment Banking Team lays off at least three managing directors

Bloomberg: Nomura Asia Investment Banking Team lays off at least three managing directors

Therefore, Nomura Holdings' current five-year plan is to double the asset management scale of its global business unit to US$60 billion. Nomura also plans to hire 50% of its employees. Currently, the team of about 100 employees is 15 in Dubai, 35 in Singapore, and up to half are in Hong Kong. Nomura also recruited new employees from UBS last year.

Rudolf Hitsch, who poached from Citigroup in 2023, is currently the head of Nomura Kitaya business.

Nomura: Confidence in Hong Kong has improved

“We see an increasing number of customers who are interested in working with Japanese banks and are interested in entering the Japanese market,” Sitch said in an interview with Bloomberg.

He also pointed out that the recovery of Hong Kong's initial public offering (IPO) market and the recovery of local stock markets has also improved confidence in mainland China and Hong Kong this year.

A report released by the Private Wealth Management Association and KPMG shows that the total amount of private wealth assets managed in Hong Kong increased slightly to around HK$9 trillion (about S$1.54 trillion) in 2023, which is the first time since 2020.

Nomura Holdings' wealth management business is relatively smaller than traditional private banks such as UBS or Julius Baer. It relies on connections with Japan and related market platforms, which is still attractive to wealthy people looking for investment opportunities.