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Tag: wealth management

  • Wealth Management the One Bright Spot at Vontobel

    Wealth Management the One Bright Spot at Vontobel

    Swiss wealth and asset manager Vontobel delivers strong first-half results as the wealth management unit performs strongly. However, institutional investors «continue to defer investments which was reflected in negative outflows. The firm plans to hire over 50 Relationship Managers this year.

    Vontobel reported that its wealth management unit delivered «very strong» performance in the first half, with assets under management growing 6 percent to 98.1 billion Swiss francs ($113.7 billion), and reported a Group net profit of 127.6 million, according to first-half results released Thursday.

    In the first six months of the year, overall assets under management rose 4 percent to 211.9 billion francs compared to 204.4 billion at the end of last year. Net money growth in Wealth Management increased by 8.4 percent in the first six months of the year, which included outflows related to a strict market focus based on its strategy.

    Even with the outflows, assets under management in the unit rose to 98.1 billion francs in the first half from 92.6 at the end of last year, helping to increase gross margin 12 basis points to 82 basis points.

    Institutional investors «continue to defer investments» which was reflected in negative outflows of three billion francs in Asset Management. Assets under managemen

    As with other wealth managers, Vontobel is also on an aggressive hiring path and plans to hire more than 50 over the course of the year.

    Vontobel hired numerous wealth management experts from a large number of interested professionals, some of whom are now already working for the firm or plan to join in the course of the year. It said it’s holding further talks with wealth management professionals who could serve clients in the Swiss home market and selected focus markets in the future.

    At the end of 2022, a total of around 316 advisors served Vontobel‘s wealth management clients.

    Vontobel believes that the current uncertainty is set to persist, but the investment firm is well positioned to navigate this landscape. The war in Ukraine is continuing and geopolitical tensions are undiminished. Fears of recession still loom large and global inflation has not been tamed. This situation is further exacerbated by challenges such as demographic developments and climate change that the world has faced, at least in part, for decades. And finally, the developments of the last two years have left their mark on the financial sector,» said CEO Zeno Staub.

  • UBS Launches Wealth Management JV in Japan

    UBS Launches Wealth Management JV in Japan

    UBS and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust further their two-year alliance with the latest launch of a wealth management joint venture in Japan.

    UBS and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings (SMTH) has launched operations under joint venture UBS SuMi TRUST Wealth Management, according to a statement, across Japan in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

    The new company is the first in Japan to offer global securities and wealth management capabilities paired with custody, real estate, inheritance, and wealth transfer expertise of a Japanese trust banking group, UBS said.

    UBS and SMTH first announced the establishment of a wealth management alliance in June 2019.

    Soon thereafter, the two groups established a consultation and event organizing company to identify prospective new clients and began cross-selling each other’s products into their respective client bases.

    We knew that with a powerful partner specialized in this unique trust banking market, we could multiply the success we have already achieved organically,» said Victor Chang, UBS SuMi TRUST Wealth Management’s president and representatives director as well as the Japan head of wealth management. «No other wealth manager in Japan boasts the same breadth and depth of our services, not to mention global reach.

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  • Greater China Trio Exits BNP Paribas Wealth Management

    Greater China Trio Exits BNP Paribas Wealth Management

    BNP Paribas Wealth Management loses three senior Greater China private bankers, sources said, after shortlived stints of under 12 months.

    Andrew Wong, Peter Lam and Richard Chi will exit the French lender’s private wealth management arm.

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

    Wong joined the bank in late 2018 as head of China at BNP Paribas Wealth Management and was subsequently made co-head of the market when the bank appointed ex-HSBC private banker Philip Wong as its other co-head. Wong has over 20 years of senior private banking roles and was most recently with Credit Suisse before joining BNP Paribas.

    Lam reportedly joined BNP Paribas Wealth Management in March this year from Standard Chartered where he was last a managing director and deputy market head. He has over 30 years of China banking experience including with HSBC Private Banking, UBS and Citi.

    Chi’s license records with BNP Paribas kickstarted on June 29, just two months ago. He previously spent more than 12 years with Bank of Singapore and the former ING Asia Private Bank.

    The senior trio’s stay with the bank was short-lived after BNP Paribas sought to replenish its North Asia front office after a number of outflows last year including Wong’s predecessor, Alfred Tsai, who left to join UBP.

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  • Investors dominate sales of Vietnam’s high-end homes

    Investors dominate sales of Vietnam’s high-end homes

    Investors buy a high percentage of high-end residence purchases in Vietnam, while occupiers take most of the low-end ones. A recent report by real estate market research firm Savills Vietnam, Vietnam Residential Spotlight, says over 70 percent of grade A (high-end) residence buyers in Hanoi are investors. The ratio in Ho Chi Minh City is just as high at 65 percent, says the report, which used data for the 2013-2017 period.

    For the grade B (middle-end) segment in Hanoi, investors accounted for 40 percent of sales, occupiers, 55 percent, and the remaining 5 percent, speculators. The corresponding ratio in HCMC is 45 percent, 50 percent and 5 percent.

    The data indicates that high-end and middle-end residences have become main interests of investors in recent years. They evince almost no interest in grade C (low-end) residences where occupiers make up 85-90 percent of transactions.

    There has been a continuous downwards momentum in residential apartment supply between January and October this year, the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) said in a recent report.

    During this period, total housing supply in the Ho Chi Minh City market fell 39.2 percent. The biggest decrease in supply was in the low-priced apartment segment, which was down 68 percent, while that of high-end apartments fell 9.6 percent and mid-range went down 37.5 percent.

    The association warned that the structure of real estate supply showed a serious disequilibrium in the market, with low priced apartments taking up only 19.3 percent of total supply while luxury apartments took up a third.

    This showed a mismatch between demand and supply, posing a risk to sustainable development and social welfare, it said.

    However, Savills forecasts that low-end residences will dominate HCMC’s supply in 2020 at 61 percent, while in Hanoi, the middle-end segment will lead the market, taking over half of the supply. At this time, Hanoi will have a higher high-end supply at 15 percent, compared to HCMC at 8 percent.

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  • Maybank Asset Management sees AUM expanding US$50m in next 2 years

    Maybank Asset Management sees AUM expanding US$50m in next 2 years

    Maybank Asset Management Group (MAMG) expects its assets under management (AUM) to increase between US$30 million (RM126 million) to US$50 million (RM209 million) in the next two years, following its collaboration with Schroder Investment Management (Singapore) Ltd to co-develop investment solutions for sophisticated investors.

    As of end September 2018, MAMG’s AUM stood at RM33.7 billion.

    MAMG and Schroders Singapore announced their first long-term strategic partnership with the launch of two discretionary portfolios, namely Global High Dividend Equity Portfolio and Global High Conviction Portfolio.

    These solutions will be managed by Maybank Asset Management (MAM) Malaysia, a unit of MAMG, with Schroders Singapore as the investment adviser.

    “This is a very targeted high net worth segment so we are leveraging on Maybank private banking customers,” MAMG CEO Badrul Hisyam said.

    “The (market) sentiment right now is quite weak generally, unless the sentiment improves, then we would see better response to this kind of product,” Badrul added, revealing that at least three more products would be available under this collaboration in financial year 2019.

    “By integrating our strength in local wealth management with their global investment capabilities, the resulting synergy will allow us to deepen our foothold in the Malaysian wealth market, through dedicated offerings designed to achieve investors’ desired outcomes.

    “We recognise the growing demand for sophisticated, outcome-oriented global investment solutions, particularly among the high net worth community. We are therefore committed to delivering a range of global investment strategies to cater to their evolving financial needs,” he noted.

    Meanwhile, Schroders Singapore country head Susan Soh said as part of the continuing partnership, both companies would undertake further collaboration projects to co-develop solutions across other asset classes, including Shariah-compliant investment and private assets.

    “We believe our ability to combine the key tenets of asset management and wealth management offers differentiated value proposition to MAM Malaysia’s clients,“ Soh said.

    According to Badrul, the Shariah-compliant investment is expected to be available to the market by third quarter of 2019.

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  • DBS completes acquisition of ANZ’s wealth, retail units in five Asian markets

    DBS completes acquisition of ANZ’s wealth, retail units in five Asian markets

    Singapore-headquartered and listed lender DBS Bank Ltd (DBS) announced on Monday that it has completed the acquisition of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ)’s wealth management and retail banking businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

    In a statement, DBS said the last tranche of the migration was successfully conducted in Indonesia over the weekend, with ANZ transferring its portfolio of businesses to DBS. The migration of businesses from ANZ to DBS started in July 2017, with the target of working towards a full completion of the acquisition in all markets by early 2018.

    In October 2016, DBS said it will pay $79 million above the book value for the ANZ businesses. ANZ has been financially structuring its businesses through cutting both inefficient assets and investments into other institutions. “With the successful acquisition of ANZ’s wealth management and retail banking business, about 90 percent of deposits, assets under management, and loans from ANZ were transferred to DBS,” the Singapore lender said.

    DBS added that the acquisition has added a large customer franchise to DBS in Indonesia and Taiwan, which are key markets for the bank. In Indonesia, DBS gained about 370,000 customers. The cards portfolio being transferred over to DBS Indonesia is also significant, with around 600,000 cards in circulation. In Taiwan, DBS added close to 520,000 customers.

    “This acquisition takes our business to the next level and gives us access to a sizable number of new customers, especially in our key markets like Indonesia and Taiwan,” said Tan Shu Shan, Group Head of Consumer Banking & Wealth Management at DBS. It also gives ANZ’s wealth customers access to more tailored solutions and a full suite of universal banking products supported by Asian insights, research and investment advice, Tan added.

    DBS is competing with larger international wealth managers including UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, which are also expanding in Asia.

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