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Kate Watson

Growing demand from mass affluent bank customers is creating career opportunities in  personalised wealth management.
Providing this level of advisory services to mass affluent customers who already have liquid assets of HK$1 million or more and investment experience requires specific skills, according to Bruno Lee,  head of wealth management, personal financial services (Hong Kong) at HSBC.
'The people who serve this segment require more knowledge about the investment market, the different types of products and also in terms of their style,' he said.
'Typically, the mass affluent segment is more mature, so it is crucial for a relationship manager to build rapport in order to show an understanding of the customer's situation.'
According to the latest Citibank Consumer Review, there were 414,000 Hong Kong dollar millionaires in Hong Kong at the end of 2007, up from 276,000 the previous year.
Stock market gains and GDP growth in excess of 8per cent in Asia-Pacific have also created a strong demand for customised wealth management services for the mass affluent market.
'Mass affluent individuals in Hong Kong are getting more sophisticated. They are looking for a total financial solution rather than just products to buy,' said Maria Leung,  ABN-Amro's head of consumer clients (Hong Kong).
'This has created a huge demand for us to provide clients with personalised and bespoke banking and wealth management services,' she said. 'Over the past few years, we've seen a strong growth in a premium client segment with assets under administration of HK$5million or more. We see more clients coming to us with a bigger share of wallet for a total wealth management solution.'
ABN-Amro introduced its Van Gogh Preferred Banking service to  Hong Kong in 2002. Unlike other banks, its wealth management niche strategy focuses on the mass affluent segment and is its core business focus.
Citibank introduced Citigold priority banking for its mass affluent customers in 1982. 'We saw then that you had to treat mass affluent customers differently, with dedicated counter lines and dedicated relationship managers,' said Amy Choi  Lai-fung, director of sales and distribution at Citibank Global Consumer Group, Citibank.
Most banks now addressing the wealth management needs of mass affluent customers have a dedicated relationship manager to help them not just with transactional banking services but also to grow, manage and preserve their wealth. For the older generation of customers, this often means helping them with strategies to transfer their wealth to the next generation.
In terms of job opportunities,  the entry level at Citibank is Citigold associate,  a support  position to the relationship manager. Ms Choi said  she looked for five soft skills in new hires in order for them to become successful relationship managers. These include communications skills; a passion for financial markets and for a service and customer-centric industry; positive thinking; a team player; and a high emotional quotient, or EQ.
'We are in a very competitive industry and a person has to have a high EQ in order to survive not just the intense competition but also the ups and downs of the financial markets,' Ms Choi said. 'It's important that a relationship manager can stay calm and handle the customer no matter whether the circumstances are good or bad.'
Relationship managers act as the gateway for the bank's mass affluent customers to access products and advice, and they don't work alone.  At Citibank, investment consultants specialising in areas such as insurance, mutual funds, mortgages and equities, support  them with the information and research that they need to prepare their customer strategies. Those who want to follow a different path  can move into a specialist investment consultant role or take advantage of  Citibank's branch manager development programme, which is now in its third year.
At HSBC, the entry level for fresh graduates is in the mass or mid-market wealth management segment before moving into a role in the mass affluent advisory sector. The path to premier relationship manager takes three to five years during which staff acquire  skills, experience and qualifications as a wealth management professional.  They can also opt to become a sales leader or a senior wealth management manager servicing mid-market customers and  leading a  wealth management team.  Or they can move into a product strategy role within the wealth management product team.
All  those working in an advisory capacity in the wealth management industry in Hong Kong must pass regulatory exams and gain the relevant securities and other licences to conduct regulated investment and insurance product activity.
'This is a fast-growing industry that offers employees tremendous career opportunities. Promotion from a relationship manager can lead to the position of a preferred centre head or to roles in business management and product development,' ABN-Amro's Ms Leung said. 'The path taken and the speed of advancement really depend on individual interests and abilities.'
For those interested  in wealth management, compensation is attractive because the wealth management industry is growing. Pay also tends to reflect the experience and knowledge required to work in the mass affluent sector, but, as Ms Leung noted, 'The prerequisite is excellence in customer relationship management, and the key is how to cultivate client relationships with a long-term view, while also understanding the clients.'



A wealth of career opportunities