Chen takes up the role this month, and will have responsibility for building and managing the Singapore-based team. She will be joined by Michelle Ho as senior banker for Greater China.
The team will be responsible for working with the wealth management needs of high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients, offering a range of bespoke solutions in credit, derivatives, foreign exchange, portfolio management and trust structuring.
Chen will also lead the team in delivering solutions in the areas of capital raising, M&A and strategic risk management, leveraging the capabilities of Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays PLC.
China focus
The company said it will continue to focus on Greater China and Taiwan as part of its overall key Asia Pacific markets strategy in 2012, as it seeks to more than double its assets under management in the sub-region in the next three years.
“There is a compelling strategic rationale for establishing a Greater China team in Singapore to complement our established presence in Hong Kong," said Pakorn Boonya-kurkul, the head of North Asia.
"We are committed to expanding the scope of offerings to better serve the needs of our clients, and this allows us to offer Greater China clients choices for doing business with a Hong-Kong based or Singapore-based wealth manager."
Chen joins Barclays Wealth from UBS in Singapore, where she has worked as managing director, desk head for Taiwan international, since 2007. Ho arrives from HSBC Private Bank.
According to the firm, interest in its private investment banking services has increased four-fold among Greater China clients. As International Adviser reported last month, Barclays Wealth hired Januar Tjandra from Goldman Sachs, to head its Hong Kong-based Greater China desk.