now loading...
Wealth Asia Connect Middle East Treasury & Capital Markets Europe ESG Forum TechTalk
Keeping up in Asia’s wealth game
As the wealth in Asia continues to grow, private banks are actively looking at new ways to capture the new flows coming out from the region. The BCG Global Wealth Market Sizing Database reports that by 2018, Asia-Pacific is expected to make up more than one-third of global wealth, forecasted to be around US$76.9 trillion.
Darryl Yu 2 Apr 2015

As the wealth in Asia continues to grow, private banks are actively looking at new ways to capture the new flows coming out from the region. The BCG Global Wealth Market Sizing Database reports that by 2018, Asia-Pacific is expected to make up more than one-third of global wealth, forecasted to be around US$76.9 trillion.

 

Looking to attract more Asian investors, Credit Suisse recently rolled out its new global digital private banking platform with Singapore as the first launch location. "We are delighted to be launching our new digital capabilities in Asia-Pacific, which is the fastest growing region for our private banking business as well as for consumer adoption of digital financial services solutions," Hans-Ulrich Meister, head of private banking and wealth management at Credit Suisse, notes in a statement.

 

Early last year, Citi also launched its Citi Private Bank in View app which like Credit Suisse's platform allows clients an overall view of their assets and liabilities with the bank as well as country and currency exposure. The app can be used via a mobile or tablet and has a cloud storage system called the Vault that can be used to store past reports and personal banking information.

 

These new products are the latest step in an industry wanting to modernize their platforms for their increasingly tech-savvy clientele in Asia. Different from US high net worth individuals (HNWIs) where a large proportion of assets comes from inherited or professional wealth, Asia's private banking HNWIs customers are often entrepreneurs who are generally more willing to embrace digital platforms in managing their wealth.

 

According to the RBC's Wealth Management and Scorpio Partnership Global HNWI Insights Survey 2014, 82% of HNWIs in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) expect that the majority or all of their wealth management relationships will be run digitally in the next five years. This is higher than the 58% level for North American HNWIs.

 

The digitalization push in private banking also leads to a relationship enhancement between the client and the bank. Through an electronic channel, private banks can have multiple touch points with their customers instead of relying solely on the interactions of the relationship manager. Citi and Credit Suisse's private banking apps give their clients freedom to read the latest research from the bank and also allow instant connections to the private banking team when needed.

 

However, with every new product, there is new competition. Since the "digital revolution" kicked off in the financial services industry several years ago, non-traditional players such as online trading and investment platforms have given HNWIs low-cost options for investing, asset allocation and portfolio management.

 

In China for example, Alibaba launched an internet money market fund (Yu'e Bao) which gave investors the ability to get better yields than bank savings accounts and as a result quickly became one of the largest money market funds in the world.

 

Hong Kong wealth management player Ageas set up the i-Invest electronic trading platform for independent financial advisers that allows users to easily browse and trade financial instruments over 42 cross-currency pairs.

 

While the move to digital is presenting traditional private banks with some painful new challenges, it will go a long way ensuring that the institution will not be seen as being a step behind its customers.

 

Conversation
Yi-Chen Chiang
Yi-Chen Chiang
senior sustainable investment analyst
Manulife Investment Management
- JOINED THE EVENT -
6th ESG Summit
Beyond the hype
View Highlights
Conversation
Delphine Voeltzel
Delphine Voeltzel
managing director
OMERS Infrastructure
- JOINED THE EVENT -
8th Asia Sustainable Infrastructure Finance Leaders Dialogue
Leading the way in sustainable infrastructure
View Highlights