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— Sampath Kumar

For the niche segment: Mr V. Mahadevan (left), Director and Chief Executive Officer, Wealth Advisors Pvt Ltd, and Mr B.L. Javeri, General Manager, Union Bank of India, exchanging files at the MoU signing ceremony in Bangalore on Monday. Others seen are (from left) Mr R. Muralidharan, Director of Wealth Advisors, Mr R.R. Nair, Shareholder Director, and Mr T.Y. Prabhu, Executive Director, Union Bank of India.

Our Bureau

Bangalore, Aug.18 Union Bank of India plans to spread its overseas operations to five to ten more locations in addition to its existing branch in Hong Kong and representative offices in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi.

The Hong Kong branch started its operation from August 1. The bank plans to convert its representative office in Shanghai into a branch by next year.

Mr T.Y. Prabhu, Executive Director, said here on Monday that the bank was planning to set up either a representative office or a branch in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Far East.

Addressing a press conference, after the launch of the bank’s wealth management services to high networth clients, Mr Prabhu said the bank expects its overall business to reach Rs 2,20,000 crore during the current fiscal, an increase of 18.9 per cent over last year. In a bid to control its costs, the bank has put a cap on high-cost deposits at Rs 20,000 crore. It has brought down its high-cost deposits, which currently stand at Rs 19,000 crore, by four per cent to 18 per cent, Mr Prabhu said.

He said the bank has signed an agreement with Wealth Advisors (India) Pvt Ltd to tap the high networth individuals for the wealth management services. Wealth Advisors is a part of the J.V.Gokal Group which operates its business in 10 countries. The bank aims to enrol 500-600 customers by March next. It has already enlisted 100 out of a total 25,000 HNI customers it currently has.

Mr Mahadevan, Director and Chief Executive Officer of Wealth Advisors, said with the emergence of diversified asset classes and significant growth in wealth formation, his company saw a great demand for such specialised offerings in the country.

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