The private office is building its senior investment team to help drive business with high net worth clients.

Investec Wealth & Investment's recently launched private office has hired Pictet's Rafe Garvin as investment director.

Garvin was previously vice president at Pictet & Cie in Geneva, where he managed over $1 billion in multi-currency portfolios for US clients. Before Pictet, Garvin led Royal Bank of Canada’s client investment delivery in London.

Investec Private Office was launched in April this year by UK-headquartered Investec Wealth & Investment to serve wealthier individuals, business owners, entrepreneurs and investors with a net worth of at least £10 million ($15 million). The service is headed up by Andrew Butler-Cassar, HNWI investment specialist and divisional director.

In the new London-based role, Garvin will be responsible for building bespoke investment solutions for the business's high net worth clientèle.

“Playing to his strengths, Rafe will focus on large, multi-jurisdictional and sophisticated clients. Our primary objective at Private Office is to build long-term relationships, and we understand that these can only be built through an unsurpassed understanding of our clients’ requirements matched by an unparalleled level of engagement and the use of tailored investment solutions,” said Butler-Cassar.

Investec Wealth & Investment, part of London- and Johannesburg-listed Investec banking group, has around £27.7 billion of client funds under management.