ABN losing personnel wealth to Religare

NEW DELHI: Dozens of senior and middle-level executives have quit ABN Amro’s retail wealth management operations to join the latest entrant in this field, the Malvinder Singh-owned Religare Macquarie Wealth Management (RMWM).

Around 40-50 have left already, and another 50 could follow suit next week, two persons familiar with the matter said.

If Religare gets to hire the entire team, then it is as good as buying the company without the ABN Amro brand, said another person close to the development, pointing out that the wealth management business depends heavily on personal relationships.

ABN Amro’s Van Gogh Preferred Banking (VGPB) is among services provided by banks that cater to India’s burgeoning millionaires, offering them personalised services like asset allocation, investment proposals and portfolio management. According to industry estimates, India has close to 1.3 million high net worth individuals (HNIs), and the number is expected to touch 2 million by 2012.

Two employees who have quit VGPB said the unit has about 200 people and manages assets worth over Rs 5,000 crore. An ABN Amro executive who spoke to ET on condition of anonymity, however, put that figure at 400.

Those who have quit include Gagan Randev, senior vice-president and head (sales and distribution), retail Bank; Rahul Malhotra, cluster head, Delhi; besides a few regional heads. It is learnt that Mr Randev will be on the board of Religare Macquarie Wealth Management while other senior team members of the bank have been offered senior positions in Religare Macquarie.

An ABN Amro India spokesman said the resignations were part of “normal business challenges”.

“These departures are insignificant compared to our overall staff strength and workforce in retail banking and does not affect our ability to provide world-class banking and wealth management services to our customers,” he said. A Religare Macquarie spokesman declined to comment for this story.