Standard Chartered, one of three banks publishing Hong Kong's notes, will continue to hire additional private bankers and open up more new wealth management centers in the city as part of its ambition to collect US $ 200 billion of new money from affluent clients over the next five years, according to a chief executive.
“Rich wealth management and cross-border businesses have been, and still, our hong Kong twin machines,” said Mary Huen Wai-Yi, CEO of Hong Kong, Greater China and North Asia, in a media briefing session last week.
Standard Chartered this year will open its sixth cross -border wealth management center in the city, he said. The bank is currently operating five such facilities to serve high net value clients, including at the tourist starting point from Tsim Sha Tsui.
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“We have discovered that high and rich net value clients respond positively to these cross -border wealth management centers,” he said. “We have already established such centers in Taiwan and Shanghai in recent years (and) we are considering similar centers in the Greater Bay cities in the Bay area like Shenzhen and Guangzhou.”
The bank would continue to hire more wealth experts, he added, noting that it had already employed around 100 relationship managers in Hong Kong last year to serve high net value customers.
The recruits were part of the US $ 1.5 billion US investment in the wealth management business over the next five years, with Hong Kong about to be the focus of the expansion, group CEO Bill Winters said in a media briefing session on February 21 to announce full year results.
Standard Chartered hired some 100 relationship managers in Hong Kong last year. Photo: Jonathan Wong Alt = Chartered Standard hired about 100 relationship managers in Hong Kong last year. Photo: Jonathan Wong>
A solid growth in services for affluent clients drove Standard Chartered's profits up 19 percent in 2024, encouraging winters to set an ambitious goal of collecting US $ 200 billion of new Net US money in the next five years.
Hong Kong is evident in the bank's growth plan. Basic before tax profits in the city jumped last year 24 percent to a US $ 2.3 billion record, representing 34 percent of the total, making Hong Kong the largest bank market.
This was driven by a 9 percent growth in the number of affluent clients in 2024, with new net money from these clients jumping 64 percent, Huen said.