HSBC has promoted Jeffrey Yap to head of investments and wealth solutions for Southeast Asia and Singapore. Yap, who was previously head of investment services and product solutions, Southeast Asia, will now report to Stefan Lecher, head of investments and wealth solutions, Asia Pacific, in his newly expanded role. The bank's five product heads, who report to Yap, have also seen their roles similarly broadened as they take on wider regional coverage responsibilities.

George Lam, head of discretionary, funds and ETFs, Ishan Sarkar, head of structured products, and Catherine Ng, head of investment suitability, in Southeast Asia, will take on new titles reflecting their additional responsibilities. Mahalakshmi Iyer, senior vice president, team head - wealth digital & platform transformation, wealth products & journeys, and Fei Fei G, head of product development, both for Singapore, will also see their roles enlarged. Yap was previously promoted to head of investment services and product solutions, Southeast Asia in July 2020, after originally joining the bank as Asia Pacific head of fixed income in 2017.

He was then named head of fixed income, currency and commodities for the region in 2018. The bank has been steadily building its investments and wealth solutions team since announcing it was to combine its private banking and wealth businesses in February 2020. Deutsche Bank veteran Lavanya Chari was hired in May that year as global head of investments and wealth solutions, overseeing the product function.

A trio of senior hires further bolstered the team in January. Wei Mei Tan joined from Endowus as global and Asia head of advisory, based in Singapore, with Michael Wong recruited in Hong Kong as regional head of ultra-high-net-worth solutions groups from UBS. Fidelis Oruche was then appointed global head of capital and investments and wealth solutions platforms for the wealth and personal banking business, having previously headed alternative investments and managed solutions at Bank of Singapore.