Julius BaerÆs Fasso joins Deutsche

Anthony Fasso, who had run institutional business development for Bank Julius Baer in Hong Kong, has joined Deutsche Bank as director of private wealth management in Melbourne, where he will run operations for southern Australia. He reports now to Michael Parsons in Sydney, who is Deutsche's Aussie head of wealth management.

A native Australian, Fasso was looking forward to a stint back home following nine years in Asia. He knew Parsons from their days together at Bankers Trust.

Julius Baer, a family-owned Swiss private bank, closed its doors after 18 years in Hong Kong this past November. It had decided to retreat from Asia early in 2003, at which point most of its international asset management team members in London, Zurich and Hong Kong began to leave. It announced its closure of the Hong Kong office in October.

Fasso had represented Baer's asset management side, marketing services to Asian institutional investors, but he also helped run the Asian private banking operation. He had been with Baer for two and a half years; prior to that he worked at BT in Hong Kong.