Private bankers at EFG, Bank of Singapore set big targets as Hong Kong offers ‘next big leap’ in wealth management
- Family offices will be ‘the next big leap’ for private banks using Hong Kong as a hub, Gordon Tsui of Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute says
- EFG International and Bank of Singapore aim to boost hiring, assets under management by 2025 to capture new opportunities
Some global private banks are laying out big expansion plans in Hong Kong to pursue major opportunities created by the city’s ambitions to become a hub for family offices in competition with Singapore, senior executives said.
Zurich-based EFG International aims to boost its asset under management in Asia-Pacific by two-thirds to 50 billion Swiss francs (US$55.8 billion) by 2025, according to board member Boris Collardi, who is also chairman of its Asia advisory board.
Bank of Singapore, the private banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, is seeking to boost its assets under management from US$124 billion to US$145 billion over the next three years in its key markets at home, and in Hong Kong and Dubai, its CEO Jason Moo said.
“We are positive on the market outlook for Asia over the next three years,” Collardi said in an interview on July 6. “We think some of this [asset growth] will come from market appreciation, while another engine will be driven by new recruitment.”
Hong Kong’s government in March unveiled several measures to attract billionaires to set up family offices to pursue investment, philanthropy and succession planning. It offers a refreshed investment-migration programme, tax breaks and art storage facilities, among others, to achieve its target of winning 200 top family offices by 2025.
The move rekindled competition with Singapore, which has moved ahead over the past three years as Hong Kong grappled with social unrest and restrictive anti-pandemic measures. Assets managed by “non-retail individual clients”, which include family offices, rose by S$470 billion (US$348 billion) from 2017 to 2021, the Singapore government said in May.
“Family offices will be the next big leap for private banks using Hong Kong as a hub,” said Gordon Tsui Luen-on, director of Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute. “There is a lot of wealth and potential, especially with Hong Kong’s promotion and incentives.”
Collardi, who last year bought a personal stake of 3.5 per cent in EFG, said the firm has hired 30 relationship managers, or senior bankers with a portfolio of wealthy clients, in Asia, and could “realistically” hire 100 bankers globally by the end of 2023. Bank of Singapore aims to boost its bankers by 100 to reach 500 by 2025, Moo said.
In Asia-Pacific, EFG has branches in Hong Kong and Singapore and a wholly-owned investment firm Shaw and Partners in Australia. The region accounted for 21 per cent of its assets under management globally of 143 billion Swiss francs in 2022.
Collardi, an industry veteran who previously worked at Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Pictet and Cie, aims to leverage its expertise in both Hong Kong and Singapore markets to help family offices and other affluent individuals manage and grow their wealth.
“Both Hong Kong and Singapore are financial centres so it is a choice of one or the other on an equal footing,” he said. “Hong Kong has always been attractive – and will continue to be attractive – as the city acts as a gateway into China.”
Hong Kong’s family office initiatives are important in providing a road map to reposition the city as a financial hub after the pandemic, he said. Still, there is a lack of coverage about its programme in European financial capitals, and EFG can help conduct roadshows in Switzerland or London, Collardi said.
Janus Henderson, a global fund management firm with headquarters in London and Denver in the US, is also excited by the incentives being dangled by the Hong Kong government. The firm plans to hire more wealth managers and establish partnerships in Hong Kong and Singapore to sell its investment funds.
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“I’m very optimistic about family offices in Hong Kong because the financial ecosystem is very vibrant,” said Andrew Hendry, head of Asia distribution. “The opportunities for investment are great in terms of its proximity to China, the Greater Bay Area and elsewhere. Family offices from the UK, Switzerland, Dubai and other Gulf countries are either relocating or setting up satellite offices here.”
Janus aims to expand its assets under management in Asia from US$30 billion to US$50 billion in five years.
Bank of Singapore welcomes Hong Kong’s ambitious plan, CEO Moo said during an industry event on July 3, saying the moves are likely to produce good results.
“We are definitely going to focus more on family offices and advisory capability going forward,” he said. “This does not just apply to [our home market] Singapore, but also regional hubs like Hong Kong and Dubai.”
