R Malhotra to head Merrill pvt client unit

Merrill Lynch today named Rahul Malhotra as managing director and head of global private client (GPC) group - India. Mahlotra has over 20 years of experience in Asia. Earlier, he led retail banking for Citibank in Asia Pacific.

"India is becoming an increasingly important location both for Merrill Lynch and private client business," said Raymundo Yu, chairman of Merrill Lynch, Asia Pacific, and head of Merrill Lynch GPC EMEA & Pacific Regions.

Malhotra will join Merrill Lynch on September 1 and be based in Singapore, looking after Merrill Lynch GPC's onshore operations in India, as well as Non-Resident Indian business.

At the end of 2005, there were more than 83,000 high net worth individuals in India, up 20 per cent from a year earlier. HNIs are people with net financial assets of at least $1 million, excluding their primary residence and consumables.

"We have an aggressive strategy to grow our business in India over the next five years by hiring more financial advisors, targeting the affluent market and enhancing our offerings," said Ausaf Abbas, chief administrative officer for Merrill Lynch GPC EMEA Pacific and head of Merrill Lynch GPC for West Asia and India.