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Tag: Private Bank

  • Private Banks Surge as Client Assets Shatter Milestone Barrier

    Private Banks Surge as Client Assets Shatter Milestone Barrier

    Last year proved to be a remarkable period for Swiss private banks, as they reveled in impressive results bolstered by favorable financial markets and substantial net new money inflows. This surge in assets under management (AuM) occurred amid a backdrop of shrinking institutions.

    Double-Digit Gains Across the Board

    A recent study by consultancy PwC reveals that in 2024, all segments of Swiss and Liechtenstein private banks enjoyed double-digit growth in their assets under management. PwC’s analysis covered 74 banks, categorizing them into small (AuM 50 billion francs).

    Market Optimism Fuels Growth

    So what fueled this growth? It was a combination of robust markets and an uptick in investor confidence, particularly in the United States. All banks reaped the benefits of favorable market shifts, with several even hitting record highs in client assets. This wave of market confidence also spurred strong net new money inflows.

    Large Private Banks Struggle to Keep Up

    In a notable twist, while large private banks collectively surpassed the 3 trillion francs mark with a total of 3,025 billion francs, their contribution to overall net new money growth was relatively tepid at just 2.2 percent. In contrast, their smaller and mid-sized counterparts showcased impressive inflow rates of 4.5 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.

    PwC attributes the standout performance of specific banks to their consistent strategic execution, successful client transitions from major competitors, sharp business positioning, and targeted geographical strategies. However, PwC cautions that early market turbulence in 2025 may cloud these promising figures.

    Net New Money Inflows Projected to Slow

    Looking ahead, while private banks are likely to continue attracting net new money, PwC anticipates a moderation in inflow rates due to intensifying competition. 2024 marked a pivotal moment as interest income, which surged in 2023 due to rising interest rates, began to decline by March 2024, putting pressure on margins.

    The traditionally strong revenue driver for private banks—fee- and commission-based income (Net Fee and Commission Income, NFCI)—has returned to the forefront. NFCI margins on assets held steady, and overall NFCI saw an increase of 7-9 percent across all peer groups, helping to compensate for lower interest income.

    Small Banks Feel Interest Rate Pinch

    An average look over three years reveals that client deposits constituted about 16 percent of AuM at small banks, 11 percent at mid-sized banks, and 10 percent at large ones. This dependency on interest income is underscored by loan exposure, with loans typically representing 8 percent of volumes at small and mid-sized banks and 5 percent at large institutions.

    Facing Margin Pressures

    Since 2022, NFCI margins have flattened, reflecting heightened price sensitivity among clients and fierce competition. The industry also faces structural challenges: increased IT expenditures, shifting client expectations, ongoing digitalization, and new regulatory demands are putting traditional business models to the test and driving up operational costs.

    Embracing Consolidation

    The landscape of wealth management banks has shrunk dramatically, dropping from over 150 to fewer than 90 in recent years, with expectations that it may soon dip below 60. Yet, this consolidation isn’t all doom and gloom. PwC suggests that “fewer but stronger banks will shape the market,” as those that remain are proving their adaptability in this ever-evolving environment.

    Questions & Answers

    Which sectors of Swiss private banks saw the most growth in assets last year? All customer segments, including small, mid-sized, and large banks, recorded double-digit growth in assets under management.

    What was a key factor driving net new money inflows in 2024? Investor optimism, particularly in the U.S., alongside positive market developments, greatly contributed to net new money inflows.

    What challenges do private banks face heading into 2025? Intensifying competition and declining interest margins pose significant challenges, with higher operational costs further complicating traditional business models.

  • HSBC Promotes Investment Duo at Private Bank

    HSBC Promotes Investment Duo at Private Bank

    HSBC Private Banking promotes two executives in its investment and product solutions unit in Asia, effective immediately.

    The bank appoints Jeffrey Yap as head of investment services and product solutions (ISPS) for Southeast Asia after his last role as regional head of fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) Asia Pacific, according to a statement. Adam Lau has also been appointed to the newly created role of regional head of market solutions, Asia Pacific.

    Yap joined HSBC in 2017 from Alliance Group (PAG), where he was managing director responsible for the firm’s public fixed-income investments. Lau is a 20-year financial veteran who joined HSBC in 2018 from Natixis where he was its Greater China head of equity solution sales. He was also previously with Deutsche Bank as its Greater China head of private banking and retail sales and J.P. Morgan as a structured product marketer.

    Yap reports to Philip Kunz, head of Southeast Asia at HSBC Private Banking and Abdel Ben Tkhayet, APAC head of ISPS while Lau will continue to report to the latter.

    In addition to developing talent internally, the bank also highlighted Singapore as a key market for its wealth business and underlined specific client segments that bank in the booking center.

    As a leading international wealth center, Singapore is one of our key wealth markets, where we serve a significant group of international clients from Southeast Asia, Greater China and other parts of the world, Kunz.

    Under the leadership of [Yap] and [Lau], I’m confident that HSBC Private Banking will build on our strong momentum and expand and enhance our range of products and services to distinctly meet our clients’ wealth needs.

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  • Citi Private Bank Names Global Market Manager

    Citi Private Bank Names Global Market Manager

    Citi Private Bank internally promotes a heavyweight banker to become a global market manager based in Hong Kong.

    Kevin King has been named as the global market manager for southern mainland China. He was most recently a team head covering the offshore Chinese market.

    A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment on the appointment.

    King is a seasoned private banking veteran renowned for his deep network and relatively fast rise in an industry with a notoriously thin pool of senior talent. In addition to 11 years with Citi Private Bank, King had also previously worked with the likes of J. Safra Sarasin, UBS and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council where he focused on developing relations with the Greater China business community.

    The most notable tailwind for the southern mainland region is the ambitious Greater Bay Area plans which envision closer integration between Hong Kong, Macau and several cities in the Guangdong province.

    In addition to creating an integrated economic and business hub, the plan if successful is expected to provide a boost to the tech sector most notably by filling the talent gap between fast-growing demand from mainland China and the relatively small pool in Hong Kong. According to a Colliers estimate, the Greater Bay Area could generate gargantuan economic output totaling $3.6 trillion annually by 2030.

  • Vietnam banks among 500 most valuable brands

    Vietnam banks among 500 most valuable brands

    Four Vietnamese lenders, three state-owned and one private, are among the world’s top 500 most valuable brands this year. In an annual ranking by BrandFinance, VietinBank was ranked 242, BIDV, 307, Vietcombank, 325, and VPBank, 361. Last year, VietinBank, BIDV and Vietcombank, three major Vietnamese banks, made it to this elite list, and this year is the first time that a Vietnamese private bank, VPBank, has made it to the Brand Finance Banking 500.

    In this year’s ranking, BIDV is one of top ten banks in the world in terms of brand strength, with growth of 22 percent; while VietinBank is one of top ten banks with biggest Brand Value Change 2018-2019 with a whopping 66 percent increase.

    Chinese bank Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) continues to sit on the throne this year, followed by three others Chinese lenders in the top four.

    According to the UK-based Brand Finance, a leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy, Chinese banking brands have grown “at an outstanding rate despite fears of an economic slowdown and the rise of protectionism in international trade.”

    It said Chinese banks grew 28 percent on average, achieving $407 billion in total brand value, over $100 billion more than American banks.

    In August last year, Vietnam’s government approved a master plan for banking sector development until 2025 with a vision to 2030.

    The plan envisages at least 2-3 banks in Asia’s top 100 in terms of total assets and targets to have 3-5 banks listed on foreign stock exchanges by 2025.

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  • Private banks lacking scale exit Singapore

    Private banks lacking scale exit Singapore

    Just like real estate is about location, location and location, private banking is about scale, scale and scale – it is what’s needed to cope with the high cost of the business, say industry players.

    Monday’s surprise move by DBS Bank to snap up most of ANZ’s wealth and retail business in Asia for a bargain-basement price of S$110 million, or 0.5 per cent of the S$23 billion of assets under management, once again hammered home the point that scale is needed to run a private bank.

    Over the past two years, eight foreign private banks (ANZ included) have exited or will soon exit Singapore. Of the eight, two were closed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for anti-money laundering violations. ABN Amro is reportedly the eighth departure, with the Dutch lender soon to sell its Asian private bank.

    Both DBS and ANZ, Australia’s fourth largest bank, mentioned scale as the reason for the sale. It wasn’t that the business didn’t turn a profit. It did; for FY16, it turned in a cash profit of A$50 million.

    ANZ is not a small player in Asia, and this sale does not signal its retreat from the region, it said. In fact, ANZ regards Asia as core to its strategy of banking large corporate and institutional clients, driven by trade and capital flows, particularly with Australia and New Zealand.

    ANZ Institutional Asia employs 1,490 people across 15 markets in the region.

    But, as ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott said of the sale to DBS: “In retail and wealth, although we have grown a profitable business in Asia, without greater scale, ANZ’s competitive position is not as compelling.”

    Tan Su Shan, DBS’s group head of consumer banking and wealth management, said Asia continues to clock decent growth rates, so the organic growth outlook for the wealth-management business remains intrinsically intact, despite cyclical volatility.

    She said: “For banks looking to create a sustainable wealth-management business here, there are a few things to consider. Firstly, it is the bank’s ability to build scale, be sustainable and invest for the future.

    “Secondly, banks must be able to serve the local and global needs of Asian clients.”

    DBS has been aggressively building up its private bank business, timing it nicely with Asia’s explosive wealth growth. A joint survey by PwC and UBS last month said that, in Asia last year, a new billionaire was minted every three days.

    DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said that, with Asia growing at 6 per cent, Europe at 1 and the US, 2, “you’d all give a left arm to be in Asia under the current economic conditions”.

    As Asia is tipped to be the richest region in the near future, private banks in the region need to adapt their business models to meet the growing demand.

    Bahren Shaari, Bank of Singapore’s chief executive, said: “For instance, with the rising cost of doing business, banks need to achieve scale, so further consolidation is inevitable. In the case of Bank of Singapore, we have enough scale to aspire to be among the top three private banks in our core markets.”

    But while Asia has the right conditions to attract private banks, it has to be borne in mind that the bulk of the rich are self-made or entrepreneurial; the joint PwC-UBS survey said about 85 per cent of Asian billionaires are first-generation.

    This means banks need to offer investment-banking services and access to debt and equity markets for clients looking to expand their businesses. They should not just sell wealth-management products or throw rare-whisky parties, which have become fashionable in some quarters.

    A private banker who turned down an offer from a major distiller to host a rare-whisky party said: “My clients are too busy making money to come for the whisky.”

    Credit Suisse, the third-largest private bank in Asia, decided in a strategic review last year to combine investment banking with private banking.

    Francesco de Ferrari, the bank’s head of private banking for the Asia-Pacific, said earlier this year: “The business model that is best suited to Asian clients’ needs is the integrated bank with private banking as a core business and its DNA, but also strong investment banking and asset-management capabilities.”

    So if some foreign banks have decided to exit Singapore, it doesn’t point to foreign banks beating a retreat from Asia.

    DBS’ Ms Tan noted that the largest private banks in Asia are, in fact, Swiss or American: “While some foreign players have left the scene, there are several who are still fairly dominant here.

    “These are primarily the large Swiss and US and banks who have managed to build scale in their private-banking businesses, either through long-term organic growth or through combining their wealth management business with a retail, corporate/investment banking or asset management business.”

    UBS, Citi, Credit Suisse, HSBC and DBS are Asia’s top five private banks. Julius Baer, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank round up the top 10.

    Ms Tan said: “That said, there remains more scope and opportunities for dominant local or regional players like DBS to gain market share as clients here look for customised solutions with a safe and steady name who remains committed to the region and the business.”

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