appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

HSBC Private Bank is a blue chip private organisation which counts many of the richest families and individuals in Hong Kong among its customers.

The HSBC group has about US$38 billion in private bank funds under management, including trust assets.

Monica Wong, chief executive of HSBC Private Bank, said a lot of wealth in Hong Kong was in the hands of older people, although many of the bank's private clients were younger company owners, entrepreneurs and professionals.

'Clients are offered a full private banking service. We can do most things, including arranging overseas property purchases. The only things we don't do are art collections and rare jewels,' she said.

'All the major private banks offer similar services. The main difference is we started in Asia, so we understand the Asian mentality.

'Tax planning is less of an issue with Hong Kong clients than it is in Europe and other high tax regimes, although the bank does tax and estate work for local clients.

'Much work in Hong Kong involves restructuring the wealth of the family to ensure the survival of the group as an enterprise.' The private bank has over 650 staff, including more than 100 in direct contact with customers.

Ms Wong said she expected staff levels to stay about the same for the next 12 months.

The number of private banking clients serviced by HSBC Private Bank is hard to estimate.

Ms Wong said: 'We have quite a lot. For example, of the top 100 families in Hong Kong, over 90 per cent have a relationship with Hong Kong Bank. Of that, a majority would have some in the private bank.

'Customers need a minimum investment of US$1 million to join as a private client,' she said.

HSBC runs its Asian private bank operation out of Hong Kong and a sister centre in Singapore. The Hong Kong operation is bigger, although both centres are run in much the same way.

Ms Wong said Asian clients were managed from whichever centre suited them, regardless of their geographic location.

As with other private banks, clients can choose to manage their own funds under the bank's advice or allow the bank to make the decisions on a discretionary basis.

'The people who opt for discretionary management tend to be too busy to manage their personal finances,' Ms Wong said.

Many of the private bank's clients are Hong Kong-born now living overseas. For these people, personal contact is impossible, so they use a fax machine or telephone to stay in touch with their advisers.

'These people usually come here several times a year and, if they want to adjust their investments, they do it then,' Ms Wong said.

With the scope of the operation, staffing is a big issue.

 Ms Wong said the volatile investment environment in Hong Kong made choosing the right people even more important.

'We like to hire people with experience in banking or investment. They can pick up the other skills on the job.

'In general, we don't hire trainees, especially in Hong Kong, because, with the mobility of people, we would train them for two years and they would move on.' Private banking is changing here and around the world with the entry of new players, new wealth and the transfer of wealth from the older to the younger generations.

'It has become more competitive over the last few years. It is more competitive in terms of pricing and product innovation. Younger people are more willing to take risks and try new products.

'A father might have been happy leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on deposit, then the son might come in and say: 'Why aren't you doing more with my father's money'.' From the outside, private banking can seem like a simple, if lucrative, business. You hire bankers with a lot of contacts, treat wealthy clients well and off you go. There is a lot more to running a successful long-term operation.

Ms Wong said: 'You need all the infrastructure. Operations and systems need to be very efficient and marketing should be the last thing you do.

'If you have the right services and the right product, it doesn't need a lot of slick selling.' Ms Wong said HSBC had developed the appropriate structure for running its private bank. Acquisitions had led to the bank running private banking operations within different legal entities but a clear management structure had been set.

Most private bank and trustee operations come under HSBC's Investment Bank division.

'The independent treasury function offered service benefits to private bank clients,' Ms Wong said.

'HSBC embodied the best of East and West in offering customers traditional Eastern attentiveness and service with Western products and technology.' 



Asian roots help give HSBC edge