Hub / regional bank
RBC Wealth Management
Newest Global South Asia entrant — a Singapore NRI desk assembled entirely from rivals' benches (June 2026).
Dedicated NRI team
Yes
Strategy tenure
since June 2026 (Global South Asia team stood up)
India onshore arc
Never onshore
Hubs
Singapore, Hong Kong
RBC Wealth Management stood up a dedicated Global South Asia team in Singapore in June 2026, hiring three senior bankers to cover non-resident Indian clients. Abhijit Shetty joined as Managing Director and Team Head — 23 years across Citibank, Standard Chartered, DBS and ANZ, with a focus on building wealth-management businesses for NRI clients — alongside Sudarshan V Athreya (Managing Director, Senior Relationship Manager; ex-ICICI Bank, DBS and BNP Paribas) and Sandesh Assao (Executive Director, Senior Relationship Manager; ex-Bank of Singapore, Nomura and EFG International). All three are Singapore-based and report to Gautam Chadda. It is a late but pure-play entry into the corridor, assembled entirely from rivals' benches, with no India onshore base.
Why it matters
RBC is the newest name on the Global South Asia scoreboard, and its June 2026 team is a snapshot of how the corridor's talent circulates: one three-person desk drawn from Citi, Standard Chartered, DBS, ANZ, ICICI, BNP Paribas, Bank of Singapore, Nomura and EFG. Like EFG, RBC is buying seniority rather than growing it — a pure-play NRI entry with no India onshore base, betting that Singapore-booked NRI wealth is large enough to justify a dedicated desk.
By the numbers
>50% Asia RM headcount growth (2 yrs)
RBC Wealth Management grew its Asia relationship-manager ranks by more than half in the two years to mid-2026, the build-out into which the new Global South Asia / NRI desk was hired. RBC's own newsroom notes it still sat outside Asian Private Banker's top-25 AUM league table for the region — a challenger, not an incumbent.
RBC Wealth Management – Asia newsroom (Asian Private Banker coverage) · Jun 2026
C$4.6trn AUA; ~4,800 advisers; ~50 yrs in Singapore
Group scale behind the Singapore NRI desk: RBC Wealth Management reports C$4.6 trillion in assets under administration globally and about 4,800 financial consultants, advisors, private bankers and trust officers worldwide (self-reported, RBC Asia site). Its Asia franchise is long-established — RBC Singapore has marked its 50th anniversary — so the June 2026 NRI desk is a new coverage line on an old regional platform, not a new market entry.
RBC Wealth Management – Asia (official site) · Aug 2026 · self-reported
The journey
Establishes a Global South Asia team in Singapore with a three-banker NRI hire
RBC Wealth Management welcomed Abhijit Shetty as Managing Director and Team Head (23 years across Citibank, Standard Chartered, DBS and ANZ, focused on building wealth-management businesses for non-resident Indian clients), Sudarshan V Athreya as Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager (ex-ICICI Bank, DBS, BNP Paribas), and Sandesh Assao as Executive Director and Senior Relationship Manager (over 20 years across Bank of Singapore, Nomura and EFG International). All three are based in Singapore and report to Gautam Chadda, Executive Director and Team Head, supporting RBC's growth across the Global South Asia corridor.
Connections
Featured in: Bank of Singapore: the NRI sector's involuntary academy