Julius Baer Wealth Advisors (India), the domestic wealth management arm of the Swiss private banking group, has roped in a new head from diversified financial services company IIFL Holdings Ltd.
Himanshu Bhagat has joined as the head of wealth management from the start of this week, Julius Baer said in a statement. He will report to Julius Baer India CEO Ashish Gumashta, it added.
Prior to this, Bhagat was working as the managing partner at IIFL Wealth Management Ltd.
Gumashta, who joined Julius Bare in 2017, said the appointment would help strengthen the firm’s position in the overall wealth management industry.
“Julius Baer India, through its global private wealth management expertise and differentiated approach, continues to steadily scale up the domestic franchise covering the market from six locations,” he added.
Prior to IIFL Wealth, Bhagat served as the head of wealth management at Morgan Stanley, where he was responsible for establishing its business and building a domestic portfolio and ensuring integration with the firm’s global standards and practices.
Bhagat’s appointment comes just two days after the larger Julius Baer Group nominated former UBS executive Kathryn Shih and former Bank of America Merrill Lynch Christian Meissner to its board of directors.
Julius Baer focuses on servicing and advising high-end private clients. At the end of December last year, its assets under management totalled CHF 426 billion (around Rs 32.7 lakh crore at current exchange rates).
The firm has a presence in over 25 countries, with its headquarters in Zurich.