While people and platforms form critical parts of the business strategy within wealth management in Asia, senior management from various private banks have different approaches in grasping the opportunities in the region.
Date: Feb 2012
Tags: Value proposition, Business strategy, China
Panel Members
Panel Summary
While people and platforms form critical parts of the business strategy within wealth management in Asia, senior management from various private banks have different approaches in grasping the opportunities in the region.
Even though views of panel speakers at the Hubbis Asian Wealth Management Forum 2012 in Hong Kong in early February diverged on client segmentation and technology, ultimately they all believe relationships are the cornerstone of their business.
And although the industry is “at the right place at the right time”, according to one speaker, clients now have higher expectation in terms of quality of advice in both good and bad markets.
Client segmentation
In terms of segmenting clients, from a profitability perspective as a single firm it doesn’t depend a much on which segment a bank targets, but rather how well it does it.
"It is lot more about getting the right focus, about getting the right people for the segment that you are looking at, and understanding the needs of those clients in that type of segment,” said Gary Tiernan, global head of relationship management, investment advisory & fiduciary, at Standard Chartered Private Bank.
Another perspective was that clients select the bank they think fits them best. This means that the bank should build credibility that is natural to the bank.
"Making a slight contrast, as ANZ being a nascent bank, we are quite happy to take client deposits,” said Samuel Suen, head of private banking for North and North-east Asia at ANZ Private Bank. “You need to bring that to the context of the organisation you are with, and because of that, clients will seek you out, if your proposition fits what they need.”
In particular, to tap the opportunity in China, one speaker said attracting clients through non-financial services is key to building up relationships.
This might include, for example, providing clients with information on overseas education or medical services.
"When you build relationships and businesses around it, you start off with the immigration plan or with education, but you end up doing lot more investment transactions with them,” said Yvonne Hsin, managing director and North Asia head at DBS Private Bank.
In addition, since clients in China are more internationalised, not only for their family but also their business, expertise and knowledge around M&As and IPOs is effective in reaching them.
Outside of China, when discussing the prioritisation of Asian markets over the next 10 years, Peter Flavel, chief executive officer of J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Management in Asia, said it is very difficult to rank in an imperative way in country 1 to 10 because so many of them are equally attractive.
"It’s not so much a function of how attractive a market is, but how well you execute in each of those markets,” he explained. “It’s a different way to execute well in all of those markets. The way you market in Indonesia is different to the way you market to Taiwan, and to the way you market onshore in Hong Kong or Singapore.”
For more details of the Hubbis Asian Wealth Management Forum 2012 in Hong Kong, click on these links:
Video highlights: http://www.hubbis.com/video.php?vid=1329443439
Keynote Speech: http://www.hubbis.com/video.php?vid=1328849236
Forum website: http://www.hubbis.com/forum/wmf2012_hk/
For more details about our other forums in 2012, click here: http://www.hubbis.com/forum/
