OREANDA-NEWS. June 24, 2011. HSBC has announced today the appointment of Simon Williams as Group Head of Wealth Management with effect from 11 July 2011. In this new role, which will be based in Hong Kong, Mr Williams will be responsible for leading the development of retail wealth management business capabilities in key markets for the HSBC Group.He will report to Paul Thurston, HSBC's Chief Executive, Retail Banking and Wealth Management ('RBWM'), and joins HSBC from Camelot Financial Capital Management LLC which Mr Williams founded in 2007.

Mr Williams (53) has a strong track record in strategy development and execution, and in delivering growth in retail banking and wealth management businesses internationally. Between 1997 and 2006, he played a key role in the development of Citigroup's consumer banking business, heading up their retail and wealth franchise outside of North America, leading the repositioning of their business in Asia and Latin America, and as a member of the Citigroup Management Committee. Prior to that Mr Williams spent four years at GE Capital in the US and Europe, and his experience also includes senior roles with Apax Ventures, Bain & Co, and with Price Waterhouse.

Paul Thurston, Chief Executive RBWM commented: "HSBC has a significant opportunity to build on our established retail banking capabilities in many of the markets in which we have sizeable presences and to become the chosen provider of wealth management services to our retail customers. Simon brings to HSBC a breadth of business and international experience, in both emerging and developed markets, which will help us build on our existing strengths, and deliver world-class wealth management solutions for our customers."

Commenting on his appointment, Simon Williams said: "I am delighted to be joining HSBC which has tremendous growth potential in wealth management. HSBC's positioning in important markets and the strength of its brand is a powerful combination, and I look forward to playing my part in realising the potential this represents."

HSBC's Group strategy, presented to investors in May 2011, highlighted the development of retail wealth management capabilities as a key strategic action for the Group. With presences in mature markets where there are already large concentrations of wealth, and in markets such as mainland China, India and Brazil where wealth has shown compound annual growth rates of around 20 per cent or more over the last 10 years, there is an opportunity for HSBC to capture USD 4 billion in additional revenues from retail wealth management in the medium-term.