Euromoney 40th anniversary special: Focus on Primus Financial Holdings

With the launch of Primus Financial, former Salomon and Citigroup veterans Bob Morse, Huan Guocang and Wing-Fai Ng are hoping to build a "multi-billion global financial services firm based in Asia". They plan to use their $1 billion of start-up capital – all from a single wealthy family in Asia – to move into banking, insurance and asset management, with a focus on providing services to corporations and rich individuals. They have pedigree in the region: Morse was for 25 years a chief executive of Citi Asia, Ng was a managing director at Taiwan’s Fubon Financial responsible for the group’s overall strategy and acquisitions, and Huan was head of investment banking Asia-Pacific at HSBC from 2001 to 2005 before founding the private equity fund that was the precursor of his present venture. The plan is hugely ambitious: the trio aim to create a region-wide financial services platform through strategic acquisitions and selective hiring, beginning with the purchase of a banking platform. The business model may not sound revolutionary, and some industry insiders privately question whether the plan to become "the world’s leading Asia-based financial services holding company" might not be too ambitious and broad. The founders are veteran bankers with deep contacts, however, and if they can target and acquire appropriate banking assets to give them the platform they need there is every chance of success (see Morse signals grand plans for post-Citi bank for more on Primus).