HSBC Hires JPMorgan Veteran Hannes Hofmann to Lead Global Family Office Push

Hofmann's newly created London role

HSBC Holdings Plc has hired Hannes Hofmann as global head of family offices in a newly created position based in London, with his start date set for September 10, according to reporting dated September 9, 2026. The lender said the appointment is intended to deepen its work with the private investment vehicles of billionaires. Hofmann left Citigroup in late 2025 as its global head of family offices, a position he had held for roughly three years after joining to lead the bank's efforts serving investment firms of the super-rich. He previously spent about two decades at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he held senior roles serving wealthy clients across the United States, Latin America and Asia.

A second senior hire from Citigroup

HSBC also named Cayman Wills as head of its private bank in the United States, joining later in September 2026 from JPMorgan. Wills previously helped run Citigroup's services for ultra-wealthy clients in the country's north-east region and joined Citi in 2022 after more than a decade at JPMorgan, where her roles included global head of equities and US head of derivatives. Both Hofmann and Wills will report to Ida Liu, the former Citigroup executive who took over HSBC's global private banking business at the start of 2026.

Reporting structure inside HSBC wealth

HSBC said Wills's New York-based role will carry an entity reporting line to US wealth executive Racquel Oden in addition to her line to Liu. Liu described the appointments as a step to "expand" HSBC's relationships with some of the world's richest families. The hires extend a leadership rebuild of the wealth unit that began when Annabel Spring stepped down in late 2024 under group CEO Georges Elhedery, with Gabriel Castello appointed as interim CEO before Liu's arrival.

Credentials and background of the new hires

Hofmann is an Austrian native who holds an MBA from Stanford University. Wills earned her MBA from Columbia Business School. The overlap in their career paths — long tenures at JPMorgan followed by family-office and ultra-high-net-worth roles at Citigroup — gives HSBC two senior bankers with shared Wall Street pedigrees now operating on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

Next milestones to watch

Wills is expected to formally join HSBC later in September 2026, and the lender will be watched for early client wins and team additions tied to the expanded family-office mandate in London and the newly strengthened US private bank head seat in New York.