HSBC is ploughing $3.5bn into its wealth and personal banking business, to realise its ambition to become Asia’s top wealth manager by 2025
HSBC is ahead of its hiring targets for its Chinese retail wealth management business and is exploring re-entering India's private banking business, senior executives said, as part of its plan to make Asia and wealth key pillars of growth.
“On the private banking side, we are now in clear expansion mode,” Matos told Reuters in one of his first interviews since moving to the region. HSBC's wealth management services include investments, insurance and asset management products, while private banking caters to the needs of those with investible assets of $5m or more.
HSBC is exploring whether to re-enter onshore private banking in India, where the ranks of the super rich are growing fast and record high stock markets have created a string of billion dollar start-ups. Currently, HSBC is focusing on catering to wealthy Indians from its global hubs in Singapore, London and the Middle East.HSBC is also looking to bulk up its Singapore and Southeast Asia presence, Matos said. In August, the bank bought French insurer AXA's Singapore assets for $575m.
In a global wealth report published in June, Boston Consulting Group said Asia's wealth management revenue pools will soar faster than any other market worldwide, nearly doubling over the next five years to $52 billion.