Lufax’s international unit eyes Asia-Pacific expansion, 10,000 customers in a year
- Lu International is Lufax’s first international arm and was set up under China’s Belt and Road Initiative
- Company to add private equity, ETFs to its product offering soon
Lu International, the Singapore unit viewed as crucial to the global ambitions of Chinese online wealth management giant Lufax, aims to expand in Asia-Pacific and grow to 10,000 customers in about a year, with private equity and exchange-traded funds to be added to its product offering soon, according to its chief executive.
The company was set up in Singapore in 2017 as Lufax’s first international arm. Lufax said back then it marked the first time a Chinese financial technology company had set up its international head office in Singapore under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Singapore is viewed as a key hinge of the initiative.
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Lu International operates the mobile wealth management platform Lu-Global.com, which mainly targets middle-class retail investors in Asia-Pacific, including Chinese investors that have offshore accounts.
It is of late also targeting corporate clients, one of them being OCBC Bank, providing them with access to the platform’s investment products, according to Kit Wong, Lu International’s Singapore-based CEO.
“We hope to reach 10,000 customers in the next year or so,” Wong said in a phone interview. “We have about 32 different nationalities on the platform currently. It’s mostly tilted towards North Asia, mainly because of the brand familiarity given our affiliation with Ping An Group and Lufax,” he said. “Due to our presence here in Singapore, we are also seeing investors from Southeast Asia grow.
“In fact, we want investment to grow all over Asia-Pacific.”
To do so, Wong said, the company was trying to make its mobile app easier to use. The app allows customers to open accounts and conduct investments remotely. The company will also expand its product offering to longer-term investments, such as private equity, which usually has holding periods of five to seven years. Currently the app offers units trusts, yield instruments and structured notes.