Exclusive | HSBC accelerates China hiring as part of Asia push, global wealth CEO says
- HSBC has hired 400 client-facing personnel for its Pinnacle venture in China this year
- Bank is betting big in rising affluence in Asia, with US$3.5 billion investment
In his first interview since relocating to Hong Kong, Matos said the bank had hired for about 400 client-facing roles for its mainland digital wealth planning venture, known as HSBC Pinnacle, and will have about 700 personal wealth planners on the ground by the end of the year.
“That investment is going exactly at pace. The investment is being delivered to improve our platforms for private banking, for affluent wealth, to put everything we do in mobile,” Matos said. “Our ambition to be the leading Asian wealth manager is coming to fruition. We are already the leader in Hong Kong. We want to be the leader in Asia by 2025.”
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HSBC doubles down on Asia in massive staffing overhaul
In the first half, revenue from HSBC’s Asian wealth business rose 26 per cent and global wealth balances, driven by Asia, increased by 18 per cent to US$1.7 trillion. Adjusted profit before tax in the wealth and personal banking business more than doubled to US$3.86 billion in the first half, compared with US$1.66 billion in the year-earlier period.
“It is a pilot phase initially. Over time, the intention is clear,” said Greg Hingston, HSBC’s Asia-Pacific regional head of wealth and personal banking. “This is going to continue to open up, hopefully, and provide the kind of breadth of investment options for those nine cities in the mainland you can get out of an international financial centre like Hong Kong.”
Matos said the AXA acquisition, which was awaiting regulatory approval, could be similar to Pinnacle in China, expanding its reach beyond its traditional branch network. The AXA transaction adds employee benefits and health coverage to its product mix in Singapore and gives it access to a large prime agency base.
“What I can tell you is we will combine all of our organic efforts, which will continue to be most of what we do, with some bespoke acquisitions where we believe there is a perfect fit for our strategy and where there is value for our shareholders,” Matos said. “We are on the offence. We said we want to pivot to Asia. This is just highlighting we really mean it. We are doing what we said we would do.”
“This is part of our strategy. In order to be a leading Asia wealth manager, we need to be one of the global wealth [management] providers,” Matos said. “As we allow for customers in Asia to diversify into other parts of the world, and as we allow for customers in other parts of the world to invest in Asia, those two corridors have been absolutely key to us. That’s why it’s Asia wealth as our passion within a global context.”