Digital Wealth Asia Forum 2019

JW Marriott Hotel,Hong Kong

We were delighted to host our 9th annual flagship Digital Wealth event in Hong Kong. More than 300 CEOs, COOs, Independent Asset managers and other senior practitioners attended – from a mix of local and international Private Banks, Retail Banks, Insurance Companies, Independent Firms & Family Offices, Asset Management Companies, and IFAs.

Thank you to all of our event partners: Swissquote, FNZ, Quantifeed, Refinitiv, 360F, Wealth Intelligence, Orbium, Onchain Custodian and Wealth Dynamix.

Below for your interest and reference are links to various content we captured from the day. Please click on the orange headlines – and do send any comments or feedback to [email protected].

 

Content Highlights 

Video Highlights 
Video Highlights Summary PDF
Exclusive Insights
Testimonials
I Love Wealth Management
Photos
Event summary
Panel discussions
Presentations & Workshops
Videos

 

Post-event Report

You might also like to view the full Post Event Report – which is a consolidated summary, including photos of speakers & delegates, the attendee profiles & some delegate feedback, polling results, and more.

 

Event Summary 

Digital Wealth Asia Forum Hong Kong 2019 Summary
We are delighted to host our 9th annual flagship Digital Wealth event in Hong Kong. More than 300 CEOs, COOs, Independent Asset managers and other senior practitioners attended – from a mix of local and international Private Banks, Retail Banks, Insurance Companies, Independent Firms & Family Offices, Asset Management Companies, and IFAs.

 

Video Highlights - Videos

Full Video Highlights - What are the opportunities and challenges for the year ahead?
Video Highlights Summary PDF
I Love Wealth Management
Testimonials

We asked leading industry experts - what are the opportunities and challenges for the year ahead? Click the links below to view the individual highlight video, or the speaker's name to view their bio.

Francois Monnet, Managing Director, Head of Private Banking Greater China, Credit Suisse Private Banking
Watch the video HERE

Damien Mooney, Managing Director, BlackRock
Watch the video HERE

Bassam Salem, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Obuhi
Watch the video HERE

Henri Arslanian, FinTech & Crypto Leader, Asia, PwC
Watch the video HERE

Vippy Wong, Partner, Quinlan & Associates
Watch the video HERE

Silvio Struebi, Partner, Simon-Kucher & Partners
Watch the video HERE

Manish Prasad, CEO, Ignition Advice
Watch the video HERE

Hin Han Shum, Associate, Squire Patton Boggs
Watch the video HERE

Johanan Thomas, Performance Director, Wealth, Refinitiv
Watch the video HERE

Alexandre Kech, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Onchain Custodian
Watch the video HERE

Jay Sala, Partner, Financial Services, Advisory, EY
Watch the video HERE

Bernard Lee, Founder & CEO, HedgeSPA
Watch the video HERE

 

Exclusive Insights -  Exclusive Insights

We asked leading industry experts for their exclusive and incisive insights. Click on the questions below the speaker's name to view their insights, or click their names to view their bio:

Exclusive Insights PDF

Francois Monnet, Managing Director, Head of Private Banking Greater China, Credit Suisse Private Banking
What issues are at the top of the agenda for private banks today?

Damien Mooney, Managing Director, BlackRock
How can you justify an expensive front office in the digital age?
Digital transformation remains high on the agenda for financial institutions – but are we moving quickly enough?

Bassam Salem, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Obuhi
How should Private Banks deliver advice in the digital age?
Accelerating change: how can you overcome the barriers to successful transformation?
What were the highlights of your private banking career? Given the chance, would you do it all over again?
Is there a lack of young people interested in joining the industry?
Why is data and feedback so important?

Henri Arslanian, FinTech & Crypto Leader, Asia, PwC
How are wealth managers looking at crypto assets and the blockchain?
Blockchain - what are the real applications and implications in financial services?

Vippy Wong, Partner, Quinlan & Associates
What’s the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics?
There’s a lot of data – how can you ask the right questions?

Silvio Struebi, Partner, Simon-Kucher & Partners
Digital transformation remains high on the agenda for financial institutions – but are we moving quickly enough?
Do we focus on the technology without consideration of whether anyone wants to use it?

Manish Prasad, CEO, Ignition Advice
Will this lead to more innovation and a better client experience?
Are traditional banks in denial?
Is there a silver bullet that will solve all the digital problems that wealth managers have?

Hin Han Shum, Associate, Squire Patton Boggs
What are the regulatory and compliance challenges in Hong Kong?

Johanan Thomas, Performance Director, Wealth, Refinitiv
Can you give me some examples of how Refinitiv helps clients using data and AI?
How can AI and Data save money or drive revenue?
From raw data to insights: how can banks make the leap?

Alexandre Kech, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Onchain Custodian
Who is Onchain Custodian?
How are wealth managers looking at crypto assets and the blockchain?
How do we safeguard digital assets like the security we get with traditional investment in shares and bonds?

Jay Sala, Partner, Financial Services, Advisory, EY
How should you decide what’s working? What KPIs should we use?
What’s the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics?

Bernard Lee, Founder & CEO, HedgeSPA
What are the opportunities and challenges that MFOs will face in the next 5 years?
Financial modelling, portfolio management and asset allocation: What’s the role of AI in the future?

 

Panel Discussions - Panels

We held 4 interactive panel discussions throughout the day – which involved senior industry practitioners who we invited to participate and share their thoughts. We have also incorporated into the summaries below the briefing notes which speakers sent to us in advance of the event. Plus, we have included the results of audience polling as well as questions we received from delegates. Click on each headline to view the PDFs.

The Brave New World of Digital and its Place in the Wealth Management Universe
Setting the scene for the day at the Hubbis Digital Wealth Asia Forum, an eminent panel gathered to cast their expert eyes over the world of digital technologies and how they are affecting the wealth management universe, as well as the broader realm of financial services. From digital onboarding to machine learning and AI, from cryptocurrencies to blockchain, from KYC to KPIs, these experts pondered whether digital evolution is being properly embraced, and if not, who might get left behind.

Panel Members
Damien Mooney, Managing Director, BlackRock
Francois Monnet, Managing Director, Head of Private Banking Greater China, Credit Suisse Private Banking
Hin Han Shum, Associate, Squire Patton Boggs
Silvio Struebi, Partner, Simon-Kucher & Partners
Bassam Salem, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Obuhi
Audrey Wong, COO & CFO, Quantifeed

The Rise of the Neo Banks and the Implications for Wealth Management in Asia
Hong Kong has issued eight new ‘virtual banking’ licenses. Will the experiment work, both for the customers and for the start-ups and their shareholders? What does this mean for the traditional banks and their customer base? What are the implications for the wealth management industry? Hubbis assembled a panel offering immense expertise to provide delegates at the Digital Wealth Asia Forum their insights to positioning themselves for what is the seemingly inevitable rise of the robo-banks.   

Panel members
Manish Prasad, CEO, Ignition Advice
Josh Heiliczer, Partner, Advisory Services - Financial Services Risk Management, EY
Ricardo Wenzel, Advisory Director, Wealth and Asset Management, KPMG
Sean Huang, Head of Business Innovation and Growth, Synpulse
Karen Man, Partner, Baker & McKenzie
Simon Hawkins, Counsel, Latham & Watkins
Gabriel Goh, Global Head of R&D, FNZ

Will the Wealth Management Industry Leverage the Full Potential of Data and AI?
Panel participants gathered at the Hubbis Digital Wealth Asia Forum to discuss the current artificial intelligence and big data, highlighting why so many people in the wealth management industry are not yet fully on board with what these digital behemoths can do to improve the sector’s productivity and profitability. Understanding how to leverage data properly through customer analytics is a vital key to unlocking the full potential of that expensively assembled wealth management client base.

Panel memebers
Bernard Lee, Founder & CEO, HedgeSPA
Jason Tu, Co-Founder and CEO, MioTech
Vippy Wong, Partner, Quinlan & Associates
Johanan Thomas, Performance Director, Wealth, Refinitiv
Jay Sala, Partner, Financial Services, Advisory, EY

The Rise of the Machines – Will Digital Assets Transform the Global Financial Landscape?
Is the wealth management industry in Asia gravitating towards digital assets and the application of blockchain for transfer and other mechanisms? Is the regulatory environment globally and locally accommodative, or obstructive? Is there a viable ecosystem to enable the development, such as custody/safeguarding digital assets? What are the risks, both financial and cybersecurity? A remarkably knowledgeable panel of experts assembled at the Hubbis Digital Wealth Asia Forum to dig deep under the skin of this fascinating and rapidly evolving sector of the global markets. 

Panel members
Alexandre Kech, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Onchain Custodian|
Avril Rae, Head of Fintech, Hong Kong, KPMG
Henri Arslanian, FinTech & Crypto Leader, Asia, PwC
Stephanie Luo, Client Solutions & Partnerships, InvestaX
Lars Rottmann, Director of Business Development, Skyhook Capital

 

Presentations - Presentations

Below are summaries of the Presentations and Wealth TALKS delivered at the event. These were 10-minute slots hosted either by senior industry practitioners who we invited to speak (Wealth TALKS), or by some of our event partners (Presentations). Also listed with each summary are links to the presentation slides (where these are made available by speakers). Click on each headline to view the web versions of these – from which you can also access the PDFs.

Accenture’s Michael Zwiefler on How to Become a Truly Digital Private Bank
Michael Zwiefler is a Managing Director at Accenture, overseeing the firm’s banking clients in Greater China. From that position, he is afforded a bird’s eye view of the rapid transition of the traditional banks toward digital banking, and also of the new entrants who are crowding into the financial space. He gave a fascinating presentation at the Hubbis Digital Wealth Asia Forum to offer his insights to what private banks can learn from native digital firms such as Netflix, Google and Amazon, how they can compete in an ever-accelerating digital world, and how they can track and adopt the DNA to become a truly digital private bank.
View Slides

Why Efficient, Seamless Client Onboarding is So Vital, Especially in Asia’s Wealth Market
Shane Meredith, Asia Director, FinTech & Wealth Advisory at Wealth Intelligence Contemi Solutions, spoke at the Hubbis Digital Wealth Asia Forum 2019 in Hong Kong to alert them to the latest thinking on digital client onboarding, advising them how it can be the key for wealth managers to reaching and servicing high net-worth individuals and the region’s younger generations of clients who are inheriting and creating the next vast wave of private wealth.
View Slides

Combining Customer and Market Data – an Experiment that is Soon to be a Reality
Johanan Thomas, Performance Director, Wealth, at Refinitiv, the global provider of financial markets data and infrastructure, gave a fascinating, lively and detailed presentation at the Hubbis Digital Wealth Asia Forum to offer his insights on the technology and data capabilities required to empower advisors to better serve their clients. He highlighted the evolving needs of the investor, and how advisers can rise to the challenge and stay relevant. His main thesis was that combining customer and market data can help drive customer centricity and higher productivity for advisors.
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The Regionalisation of Wealth Businesses – a Digital & Platform Perspective
Gabriel Goh, Global Head of R&D for FNZ, gave an insightful and informative presentation to delegates at the Hubbis Digital Wealth Asia Forum highlighting how wealth management firms in Asia can operate through one core platform across multiple jurisdictions, via multi-channel, multilingual, multi-asset, and multi-currency solutions. Agility is critical, he explained, as technology and competitive forces are moving faster than ever before. And he showed delegates one example of a forward-thinking solution FNZ has delivered for regional clients in Asia.
View Slides