Standard Chartered buys MPF trustee RBC Investor Services to tap Hong Kong’s growing retirement market
- RBC, an indirect subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, is one of the 13 MPF trustees that manage pension funds in the city
- Standard Chartered sold its MPF businesses to Manulife in 2015, but bank executive points out that the new acquisition is different from what it had sold
The deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year subject to regulatory approval, will allow Standard Chartered to tap the growing retirement businesses in Hong Kong where the population is ageing rapidly. The bank did not disclose the acquisition price.
RBC Investor Services, an indirect subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, is one of the 13 MPF trustees that manage the city’s compulsory pension fund. Its clients include Sun Hung Kai Properties and several big fund houses such as Allianz, Manulife, Fidelity, Invesco and Schroders.
“This acquisition is a natural extension for us,” said Simon Kellaway, regional head of financing and securities services for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered. He added that the bank already provides services to local asset managers in Hong Kong, but not services related to the MPF.
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“We believe that we can grow that business quite dramatically over the coming years as there’s more focus on saving for retirement,” Kellaway said.