JPMorgan to double private bankers in Singapore to serve wealthy mainland Chinese
- US bank currently has more than a dozen private bankers serving wealthy Chinese clients from Singapore
- The number of millionaires in China grew 11 per cent to 1.3 million in 2019 versus 3.4 million in Japan, according to Capgemini
JPMorgan plans to double the number of private bankers serving Chinese clients from Singapore over the next two years, signalling its ambition to tap growth from Asia’s second-largest wealth market.
The US bank currently has more than a dozen relationship managers serving Chinese residents and those on the from the city-state, said James Wey, the new head of Southeast Asia private banking. “With rapid wealth creation in China, there is a need for insightful advice around how to manage the new-found wealth,” he said in an interview.
JPMorgan, ranked seventh among private banks in Asia excluding onshore China, competes with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley in attracting Chinese entrepreneurs who become billionaires after listing their companies’ stocks.
Singapore is popular among the world’s rich to park funds, buy property and set up family offices. While the New York-based bank has a large team of wealth managers in Hong Kong, Singapore is the only Asian Centre where clients can book assets.
“Singapore is a natural hub for wealth management because of the very clear and investor-friendly regulation,” Wey said. “The wealthy, not just from China, but all over the world, view the country as a stable hub.”
The China team is the latest addition to JPMorgan Private Bank in Singapore, which has traditionally focused on local clients and those in Indonesia and has more than 50 relationship managers, Wey said.