HSBC veteran James Cheo to join UBS in senior Apac role

Cheo will be based in Singapore and report directly to Tan Min Lan, head of CIO Apac

Banking veteran James Cheo will join UBS from HSBC in March as part of the Swiss lender’s chief investment office (CIO) team, even as the bank manages cost and workforce pressures across the region.

Cheo will join UBS’ CIO Asia-Pacific team covering Southern Asia and Australia effective Mar 30, and will play an “active role” in investment content and client coverage across Southeast Asia, Australia and India.

He will be based in Singapore and report directly to Tan Min Lan, head of CIO Apac.

Cheo’s appointment “reflects the continued momentum of our business and the growth opportunities we see across the region”, UBS said in an internal staff memo announcing the hire, seen by The Business Times.

“Importantly, this hire will deepen the CIO bench and add capacity and capability as our platform scales,” the memo said.

He joins from HSBC’s Private Bank and Premier Wealth team, where he is CIO for South-east Asia and India.

Cheo has more than two decades of experience in multi-asset strategy, macroeconomic research and thematic investing, including five years as a senior economist with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

He holds a First Class Honours degree in finance from Nanyang Technological University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

The appointment comes against a backdrop of broader organisational restructuring at UBS.

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The bank, which is working to complete the final stages of its integration of Credit Suisse by end-2026, has been assessing its cost base and preparing another wave of job cuts starting mid-January, Bloomberg reported.

Senior Asia markets veteran Eric Lafon recently left the firm after more than 25 years, in what the media report described as departures ahead of planned cuts.

In a separate statement confirming Cheo’s departure, HSBC said he had chosen to pursue opportunities outside the bank, with his tenure concluding at end-March, and wished him well.

HSBC added that it has “deep bench strength” within its CIO team in Singapore and will communicate any appointments in due course.

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