Mumbai, January 3, 2007 - ASK Raymond James announced the appointment of Mr. Rajesh Saluja as Chief Executive Officer to lead the Financial Planning business. The business, which will be launched in the beginning of 2007, will cater to the HNI retail investors in India.

Mr. Saluja comes to ASK Raymond James from Standard Chartered Bank, where he was the Business Head - Priority Banking & Deposits for the Wealth Management business in India. In his 10 years of association with Standard Chartered Bank, he was instrumental in building a strong distribution and customer franchise for Wealth Management across 31 cities in India. He also played a significant role in shaping the Priority Banking business model for the high net-worth customer segment.

Says Mr. Asit Koticha, Managing Director, ASK Raymond James, "Rajesh will be a significant part of our team. He has a successful track record in the wealth management space. His experience in building teams and knowledge of wealth management business will go a long way in helping us build a strong financial planning business which will be one of the growth engines for us".

Mr. Rajesh Saluja, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Planning said, "ASK Raymond James is an experienced organization and can add immense value to investors. I look forward to the opportunity to be a part of this new endeavor and to build and lead a talented team."

Rajesh brings with him over 17 years of diverse experience in sales, relationship management, marketing and business management. In addition to Standard Chartered, he has been affiliated with Xerox Modicorp and Real Value.