2021 Awards for Distinction & Final Word Special Edition

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THE WINNERS

Also featuring: A year in review in which the region’s private banking and wealth management leaders share their thoughts on industry trends, investments, regulations, and technology in 2021 — and offer their predictions for 2022.

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elcome to Asian Private Banker’s 2021 Awards for Distinction Winner’s Edition.

When APB’s judging panel came to their decisions for the awards at the end of last year, private banks and their clients in the region had just come off the back of a rollercoaster 12 months. If a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic was not enough, investors also had to grapple with a meltdown in China’s high-yield bond market, a broad regulatory crackdown by Beijing and rising concerns over inflation.

Despite all of those headwinds, 2021 turned out to be a stand-out year for private banks’ operations in Asia-Pacific, with several high-profile market players recording significant hauls in net new client money, increases in revenue, and deeper penetration of more lucrative discretionary mandates. Meanwhile, investments in digital platforms that were accelerated by the onset of the pandemic have begun to bear fruit for several private banks in the region.

Now for the bad news. The early months of 2022 have brought a flurry of ominous developments that will have had many CEOs, COOs and CIOs across the region’s wealth management industry ripping up their playbooks for the year.

As I write this, Hong Kong is in the process of lifting some of its more stringent coronavirus-related restrictions following a decline in the number of COVID-19 infections. Singapore, a rival finance hub in the region, has already done away with many of its own pandemic-control measures. While a pre-pandemic normality is still some way off, a future in which international travel, in-person conferences and client dinners are a regular part of a private banker's routine no longer seems like a distant dream. That can only be good for Asia-Pacific's private banking industry.

Meanwhile, Russia’s shocking invasion of Ukraine has brought war to Europe’s doorstep, widening the divide between East and West, and sending ructions through global energy markets. The question of inflation and central bank rate-setters’ response to it, already hotly-debated among private banks’ investment desks at the end of last year, has become a whole lot more pressing.

But amid the gloom, there remains a strong undercurrent of optimism in Asia. The level of wealth creation in the region’s biggest markets, namely China and India, continues unabated with the focus of private banks increasingly shifting to the underpenetrated tier-two and three cities. The industry is only just scratching the surface of onshore markets, which are home to an estimated 80% of Asia’s wealth. Also, the re-opening of Singapore and Australia provide a glimmer of hope for a near future where international travel to and from Asia-Pacific returns to the prepandemic era.

Finally, and most pertinently to our awards programme, a commendation is in order for all of those banks that submitted for 2021’s Awards for Distinction. There was a tangible improvement in the quality and transparency of submissions across all categories. The credibility of the programme, including the accuracy of its decision-making, rests on the quality of disclosure of banks’ business performance and product offering.

All of the winners made a strong case backed by facts, figures and concrete examples.

We congratulate the winners of Asian Private Banker’s Awards for Distinction 2021 and wish you the best in these difficult times.

Daniel Shane

editor Asian Private Banker 3

C ON TEN TS 3 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Letter from the Editor Private Banker of the Year Best Private Bank — Asia Pacific COO of the Year Best Private Bank — CIO Office Best Private Bank — Integrated Platform Best Private Bank — Pure Play Best Private Bank — Asia Pacific HNW Best Private Bank — Asia Pacific UHNW Best Independent Wealth Manager — Asia Pacific Best Private Bank — Wealth Continuum

20 21

Best Private Bank — Discretionary Portfolio Management Best Independent Wealth Manager — Discretionary Portfolio Management 22 - 27 THE FINAL WORD — Key investment themes

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Best Private Bank — Sustainable Investments 30 - 33 THE FINAL WORD — Sustainability and ESG risk

34 36 37 38

Best Private Bank — Fund Advisory Best Private Bank — Investment Advisory Best Independent Wealth Manager — Investment Advisory Best Private Bank — Equity Advisory 39 - 41 THE FINAL WORD — Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 42 - 44 THE FINAL WORD — The ‘60/40’ portfolio

45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

Best Private Bank — Fixed Income Advisory Best Private Bank — FX Advisory Best Private Bank — Alternative Advisory Best Private Bank — Credit Advisory Best Private Bank — Wealth Planning Services Best Independent Wealth Manager — Wealth Planning Services Best Private Bank — Intermediary Services Best Private Bank — Family Office Services

Published by Key Positioning Limited 13/F Greatmany Centre, 111 Queen’s Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2529 1004 | Fax: +852 3013 9984 | Email: info@asianprivatebanker.com ISSN NO. 2076-5320

53 - 54 THE FINAL WORD — Government support for FO industry 55 56 57 58

Best Private Bank — Next Generation Services Best Private Bank — Client Experience Best Private Bank — Digital Innovation & Services Best Domestic Private Bank — Digital Innovation & Services 59 - 61 THE FINAL WORD — Digital focus

62 63

Best Private Bank — Hong Kong Best Private Bank — Singapore 64 - 66 THE FINAL WORD — Sourcing talent

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Best Private Bank — South Asia 68

69 72 73

THE FINAL WORD — Business split acoss Hong Kong and Singapore

Best Private Bank — North Asia Best Domestic Private Bank — China Best Independent Wealth Manager — China 74 - 76 THE FINAL WORD — Investing in China 77 - 79 THE FINAL WORD — Onshore and offshore private banking

80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88

Best Domestic Private Bank — Taiwan Best Private Bank — Global Indians Best Domestic Private Bank — India Best Domestic Independent Wealth Manager — India Best Domestic Private Bank — Australia Best Domestic Private Bank — Thailand Best Domestic Private Bank — Philippines Best Domestic Private Bank — Malaysia Best Domestic Private Bank — Indonesia

Unparalleled geographic reach meets deep sector expertise Nuveen is among the top five largest real estate investment managers globally1 with $128 billion AUM: • Proven legacy in commercial real estate debt since 1934 and direct property since 1947 • Extensive on-the-ground transaction and asset management professionals across 25+ cities in Asia Pacific, Europe and the U.S. • Rigorous corporate governance at each stage of the investment and management process nuveen.com/realestate

1 ANREV/INREV/NCREIF Fund Manager Survey 2020. Survey illustrated rankings of 140 fund managers globally by AUM as at 31 Dec 2019.

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Shawn Lese, Chief investment officer and head of funds management, Americas, Nuveen Real Estate

That conviction is based on five compelling factors: income, growth potential, volatility management, diversification and inflation protection potential.

Real estate has historically offered investors a higher level of income than other asset classes. It has generated strong risk-adjusted total returns with a risk/return profile that is different to other asset classes and typically with less volatility.

By offering capital appreciation and income opportunities when inflation rises, real estate has traditionally acted as a hedge against inflation. That is a persuasive narrative in today’s macroeconomic environment.

and economies. That should drive demand for housing, ecommerce and services, giving further support to those sectors that rebounded the fastest and sharpest from the property price falls seen during the early days of the pandemic. We believe this trajectory has further to go.

Long legacy As the recovery continues, selectivity becomes more important.

Our aptitude in locating the best investment opportunities has been developed during our 88-year legacy in real estate investing. More than 725 employees located in 30 cities in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific use their deep geographical and sector knowledge to collectively manage $152bn2 in real estate assets.

Left: As of 31 Dec 2021. NCREIF, 4Q20; Bloomberg. Commercial property is represented by the income component of the NFI-ODCE Index, US equities are represented by the dividend yield of the S&P 500 Index, U.S. investment grade bonds are represented by the yield to maturity of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, and U.S. T-Bills are represented by 3 month U.S. T-Bills. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Right: As of 31 Dec 2021. NCREIF, Bloomberg. Volatility is represented by standard deviation. Standard Deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. The more spread apart the data, the higher the deviation and volatility.

The annual rate of inflation in the US accelerated to 7.5% in January 2022 – the highest since February 1982 – as soaring energy costs, labor shortages and supply disruptions propelled the Consumer Price Index higher.

While some inflationary pressures are likely to fade as the Covid-19 pandemic ends, others may prove more persistent. On one hand, supply chain bottlenecks may be transitory in nature. On the other, energy prices have risen significantly and may likely stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Real returns Real estate investments may be seen as inflation-proofed in a variety of ways. The value of real estate is derived fundamentally from the cash flow they generate. The higher the cash flow, the higher the value and the higher the returns to investors. In an inflationary environment, landlords often have the ability to increase rents and therefore cash flow.

Many long-term leases, such as those seen in commercial properties, typically have built-in rent escalators that protect real income generation.

Additionally, higher wages tend to lead to more consumer spending, which is a plus for single-family and multi-family residential housing – one of the key areas of opportunity that we have identified in the market.

Further, as a direct real estate manager, we have the control required to manage rising costs. We can use our flexibility to improve operations and focus on new technologies to mitigate higher costs.

Fundamentally, we see a lot of alpha in the market. The pandemic has not caused a paradigm shift for real estate, rather, it has accelerated pre-existing trends. High household savings ratios around the globe stand to re-inflate real estate markets as Covid-19 relinquishes its grip on communities

Our global cities strategy focuses on real estate in the most promising locations for future growth – from Austin, Texas to Berlin in Germany and Sydney, Australia. A robust proprietary research process filters the world’s cities based on four metrics: scale, transparency, stability and megatrends.

This pinpoints cities with a metropolitan area population of more than 150,000. Their real estate markets have the necessary liquidity, data availability, property rights and good transaction processes to facilitate investment. Their countries have adequate political and economic stability.

And, finally, we believe they are in the top 2% cities globally that are best positioned to benefit from global megatrends: urbanization, rising middle classes, aging population, growing economic power of the East, technology and sustainability.

As an investment manager, we are dedicated to sustainability. Sustainability objectives are integrated in our investment process and we are committed to having a net-zero carbon global property portfolio by 2040.

Dynamic segments Our strategic focus is on the most dynamic segments of the market: industrial, housing and alternative real estate such as healthcare facilities.

Healthcare transformation, meanwhile, is driving demand for life science facilities focused on medical research and medical offices to provide the aging baby-boomer generation of nearly 73 million people with innovative outpatient care.

Another powerful theme is the acceleration in the adoption of ecommerce, which continues to drive demand for warehouse leasing. For example, we own and manage One National, a 300,000-square-foot warehouse in Boston, Massachusetts, which Amazon is using as a middle-mile sorting center.

Explore what Nuveen offers in real estate, as well as across a range of other alternative investments on nuveen.com 1 ANREV/INREV/NCREIF Fund Manager Survey 2021.

2 Assets under management as of 31 December 2021 GAD-2067173PM-O0322X

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

VINCENT CHUI OF MORGAN STANLEY PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT ASIA When Vincent Chui presented to Asian Private Banker’s judging panel for the Awards for Distinction 2021, the head of Asia wealth management at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia (Morgan Stanley PWM Asia) came prepared with a metaphorical — and at times literal — show of strength.

Sat on one side of an elongated table in a cavernous conference room at the Wall Street bank’s Hong Kong office, Chui was flanked by a dozen or so of the key lieutenants and heads of business, whom he referred to as partners, helping him run one of Asia’s most dynamic

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“I am very humbled by this honour. Private banking in Asia is a secular growth sector providing significant opportunities to banks and bankers alike. Working together with my partners and colleagues at Morgan Stanley, I look forward to contributing to the industry in general and to growing our wealth business in particular, and helping build Hong Kong and Singapore into the top private banking hubs in the world.”

-V incent Chui, head of Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

private banking operations. His spirited pitch for why Morgan Stanley PWM Asia deserved to be recognised for a clutch of Asian Private Banker’s blue-ribbon awards was punctuated by the occasional desk-thump, underscoring the passion with which Chui pursues his goal of constructing the most comprehensive private banking platform for the region’s UHNWIs. The Morgan Stanley veteran, who moved from institutional securities to his current role in 2013 and is known for being at his desk before 7am every day, last year oversaw one of the most breath-taking business and investment performances by any private bank in the region. It was all the more remarkable that it came during a period of horrendous market volatility, tightening COVID-19 travel restrictions affecting the key offshore hub Hong Kong, and in tandem with an unrelenting focus on franchise, compliance and risk mitigation.

It was telling of where Chui’s priorities lie that during that energetic pitch for the Awards for Distinction, any mention of top-line performance, AUM growth or investment returns was preceded by his assertion that all of Morgan Stanley PWM Asia’s achievements in 2021 had come with “zero regulatory incidents and franchise risk tolerance”.

That commitment to a robust culture of compliance was complemented by the firm’s recent appointment of a former Hong Kong Monetary Authority senior executive to better understand regulators’ policy objectives and expectations so that Morgan Stanley PWM Asia can grow its regional business responsibly and sustainably.

Chui’s background as a former member of the Hong Kong government’s administrative service (prior to joining the financial services sector) and his ongoing involvement in public service probably shaped his “Do The Right Thing” mindset too.

There were other facets of the US private bank’s achievements that were extraordinary during the period considered for the Awards for Distinction, which helped Morgan Stanley PWM Asia to secure Best Private Bank – Integrated Platform, Best Private Bank – Asia Pacific UHNW and Best Private Bank – North Asia. At the start of 2021, the bank embarked on a three-year transformational project entitled “PWM 2.0”. Under the guidance of Chui, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia hit more than 50% of its revenue objectives under the programme in less than 12 months.

That was in no small part down to the leadership, market knowledge and difficult decisions made by Chui and his partners during a turbulent year for markets. Morgan Stanley PWM Asia was one of the earliest private banks

in the region to recognise and act on the potentially devastating impact on client portfolios of the liquidity challenges at Chinese private real estate companies, particularly the “Three Red Lines” names. The bank quickly commenced discussions with clients to scale back financing and advised clients to trim or hedge positions in relevant high-yield bonds, a favoured asset class among yield-hungry Asian private clients, before the full extent of the turmoil at the developer unfolded and before other private banks reacted with their own financing retreat. Chui characterised the de-risking decision as extremely difficult but “the right thing to do” — and one that undoubtedly proved to have been in clients’ best interests.

That was not the only way in which Chui ensured Morgan Stanley PWM Asia went above and beyond in servicing the bank’s predominantly UHNWI clientele in Asia in 2021.

The lender has been one of the most pro-active in terms of resuming regional travel for its relationship managers, reinforcing Morgan Stanley PWM Asia’s commitment to maintaining a high-touch service with its Greater China-focused client base despite rolling lockdowns and unceasing COVID-19 restrictions. In addition to government-mandated quarantines, RMs who wished to travel to prospect and see clients have been subject to an additional work-from-home period to ensure the safety of colleagues and clients.

Finally, and arguably most crucially, is Chui’s abilities in attracting, cultivating and managing senior talent. That is especially vital at an operation such as Morgan Stanley PWM Asia, which operates in the region with a relatively lean front office of 140 RMs. Amid a war for talent in AsiaPacific, Chui has added selectively and cautiously to his private banker bench rather than focus on numbers, instead concentrating hires on those who are suitable for Morgan Stanley’s culture, can quickly adapt and make the most of Morgan Stanley’s integrated platform spanning its heavyweight investment banking, research and brokerage services.

“We focus on RMs from top tier firms who have established and strong client relationships but who will benefit from our robust integrated platform to fully monetise such relationships and provide holistic services to their key clients, across the spectrum of individual, family and business needs,” Chui recently told Asian Private Banker.

In 2021, Chui set an example to the region’s private banking industry in how to lead with vision, ambition and discipline.

For these reasons, he has been recognised as Asian Private Banker’s Private Banker of the Year for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Tan Siew Meng regional head of HSBC Global Private Banking, Asia Pacific

HSBC GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKING HSBC Global Private Banking (HSBC GPB) has been awarded Asian Private Banker’s flagship Best Private Bank – Asia Pacific accolade for the first time after the lender comprehensively demonstrated an ability to capture wallet share, improve its product shelf and fully harness new market opportunities.

All of these achievements were evidenced in HSBC GPB’s spectacular business performance in 2021. Both revenue and client AUM derived from Asia-Pacific jumped at a rate that put HSBC GPB at the front of the pack of private banking peers. The numbers were all the more remarkable when taking into consideration that HSBC GPB’s net interest income during the year was hit harder by lower interest rates than that of many of its rivals — due to the fact the bank traditionally has a high balance of deposits.

The impressive increases in the top line and the asset base were coupled with an impressive haul of net new money that marked a substantial recovery from industrywide deleveraging and was peppered with several US$1 billion-plus landmark deals with UHNW clients.

Perhaps just as crucially as this muscular business performance were the private bank’s efforts to improve the quality of its revenue streams. In 2021, HSBC GPB boosted the portion of its revenue derived from recurring income sources by more than any of the other awards submissions reviewed by Asian Private Banker — reflecting the success of the lender’s efforts to convert more clients to mandates with annuity-based fees.

In 2021, the collaboration between HSBC’s global private bank and its commercial banking (CMB) juggernaut thrived as the result of relentless tweaks and improvements to the linkages between the two. Net new money and revenue derived from PB/wholesale banking collaboration grew in 2021, thanks to investments in data analytics and prospecting, and in pipeline tools.

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“We are honoured to be named the Best Private Bank – Asia Pacific and proud of what this accolade represents.

Our clients are at the centre of everything we do, which means we are laser-focused on ensuring that every client receives the best ideas, advice, solutions and services tailored to their unique circumstances — every day. And we are committed to bringing the best of HSBC to clients, whose needs are typically international in scope and span the personal and business spheres.

To deliver on our promise, we invest in our capabilities and people across the region, and we innovate. In 2021, we enhanced our client experience with major digital deliveries; we deepened our ESG integration and expanded our sustainable solutions offering as part of our Group-wide commitment. We extended our footprint in Southeast Asia and celebrated 75 years of partnering with families across generations via HSBC Trustee; and, above all else, we remained close to clients to help them navigate a complex environment.

This award only adds to our motivation to really make a difference for clients as their trusted wealth manager.”

- Tan Siew Meng, regional head of HSBC Global Private Banking, Asia Pacific

offerings and doubled-down on its market-leading position in alternatives. As the bank broadened its worldclass suite of hedge funds, private equity and credit strategies, it recorded record inflows of US$1.9 billion in the region.

Outside of HSBC GPB’s traditional strongholds of Hong Kong and, increasingly, mainland China, the bank launched an onshore Thailand business, expanded its coverage of onshore Taiwan as well as boosting its product shelf there.

The private bank has more than doubled the size of its teams serving UHNWIs and this has already appeared to bear fruit, with the number of clients from this segment rising by the high single digits and its estimated share of wallet growing at an even faster clip.

Finally, the judging panel commended HSBC GPB for the velocity of its improvements in client experience and steps in attracting and retaining front office human capital.

The bank boosted its headcount with selective and opportunistic hires among RMs, investment councillors and product specialists. Diversity and inclusion have been paramount, with almost half of senior leadership in the region now female.

On the investments side, HSBC GPB made significant strides in its discretionary portfolio management (DPM)

For these reasons, HSBC Global Private Banking is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Asia Pacific.

The Final

The Final

Word 2021

Word 2021

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

SHARON OH, HSBC GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKING HSBC Global Private Banking in 2021 laid the foundations for a holistic digital ecosystem designed for wealth management and expanded its sales force for growth in key target markets, such as onshore China.

The household name managed to execute the changes while keeping costs under control. As of September 2021, the bank’s overall opex increase came in 4% lower than planned, maintaining the cost-to-income ratio within a reasonable range of 50-59%.

The mastermind behind the scenes of all these changes has been Sharon Oh, COO at HSBC Global Private Banking Asia, driving the bank’s digital transformation, which has been the backbone of the client experience at a time when the pandemic limited in-person meetings in the region.

Joining the bank in mid 2020, she has been tasked with moving forward the bank’s digital agenda and visible results were delivered in under two years’ time. During this period, HSBC GPB launched more major digital solutions for private banking clients in Asia than most competitors in the region. These solutions covered all key stages of the client lifecycle.

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“I’m very honoured to receive this recognition from Asian Private Banker. This is surely a team effort, and a testament to the accomplishments of the team over the past year.

I’m proud to say we have laid very strong foundations for our digital offerings in 2021 that covered all key stages of the client lifecycle, including: client onboarding, online trading, communication via WhatsApp & WeChat, automated and customisable notifications, insights & research, payments, and client reporting. This has allowed us to enhance and scale, in order to build a holistic digital ecosystem that will eventually be used across our wealth continuum.

We remain committed to delivering excellent service and solutions to clients, blending digital capabilities with skilled bankers to provide the best of both worlds as we keep investing in digital.”

- Sharon Oh, COO, Asia, HSBC Global Private Banking

diligence process for sophisticated clients, both greatly contributing to the bank’s business growth.

Over the past 12 months, the bank rolled out its Private Banking Online Trading Platform and recorded over US$1 billion in transactions in five months, while HSBC GPB Chat recorded over 12,000 messages with over 2,000 documents exchanged. Around half of the bank’s client base now uses the bank’s digital platform and an increased number of mobile device visits have occurred every month in Asia.

At the heart of this success has been an unwavering commitment to trust, team work, and empowering decision making, a clear testament of the results of Agile methodology. As WPB continues on its transformation journey and embeds Agile, this foundation built with the GPB COO team — which is an integral part of GPB — will be a clear leader in the wealth industry.

Listening to and acting upon clients’ feedback, HSBC in 2021 streamlined the onboarding process with an e-signature function and simplified the product due

Sharon Oh, COO at HSBC Global Private Banking Asia, has been named Asian Private Banker’s COO of the Year for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

John Woods CIO Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse

CREDIT SUISSE While Credit Suisse’s victory in Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – CIO Office category in 2021 marked the third time in a row the Swiss lender has walked away with the much-coveted accolade, this most recent prize was no doubt the hardest-earned, considering the volatility that tore through Asian markets.

Despite a sell-off that rocked Chinese equity and highyield bonds for much of 2021, Credit Suisse’s CIO office in Asia-Pacific consistently provided alpha with its strategic and tactical asset allocation calls across both its balanced and growth portfolios. Over a three-year time frame, this outperformance is even more pronounced.

But below the pure performance numbers lies a series of astute individual calls that reflect both current market realities and broader structural trends. For example, the CIO office was successful in generating substantial alpha from a bullish position in Chinese treasuries that was initiated at the start of 2021, as well as an underweight call on Asian high-yield bonds that helped clients to escape the worst of the carnage sparked by a liquidity crisis at developer China Evergrande.

In terms of broader structural trends, Credit Suisse’s Sustainable China strategic call was paying off handsomely for clients. The theme, which is one of several megathemes that have been pinpointed by the bank, generated significant real returns during 2021 at a time when the broader Chinese stock market was tumbling.

For Asia, 2021 marked the fifth consecutive year of positive alpha contribution for Credit Suisse’s balanced and growth portfolios. The power of the CIO office’s view across the bank’s business was demonstrated in demand from clients for mandates, with net sales of managed solutions more than doubling in 2021 to reach a five-year high.

Perhaps more important than the performance of the regional CIO office’s calls during the year were the impressive efforts by Credit Suisse to build out its entire CIO ecosystem across Asia-Pacific. Among the

“We are delighted to win this award for the third consecutive year. This continued recognition is a testament to the calibre of our team and our ability to provide timely investment insights in volatile market conditions.

Our international platform and connectivity, as well as our long-term and thematic investment calls allow us to provide valuable expert views which translate into strong portfolio performances.

Above all, we stayed close to clients and delivered investment insights, bringing into play multiple channels which were all very well received.”

- John Woods, CIO Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse

most creditable of these were the crafting of the capital market assumptions and the launch of strategic and tactical asset allocation calls as part of the successful efforts in onshoring and localisation of the CIO team and entire investment process in alignment with the wealth management APAC business.

As a comprehensive offering, Credit Suisse’s CIO office in Asia-Pacific made significant strides in client outreach during 2021 — something that was more important than usual in view of the stomach-churning volatility in markets. The 16% rise in client interactions during the year included more than 150 media events.

Credit Suisse also built on its standing as a heavyweight in thought leadership. In 2021, the bank launched a dedicated content team designed to better synergise and distribute the CIO’s house views across digital platforms such as podcasts and video series. Fully integrated with Credit Suisse’s digital private banking platform, the initiatives helped to boost client engagement with the CIO office’s most up-to-date house views.

That is why Credit Suisse is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – CIO Office for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Vincent Chui head of Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia

MORGAN STANLEY PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT ASIA Considering that Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia’s clientele in the region includes business owners and entrepreneurs who count themselves among the upper echelons of the UHNW spectrum, providing institutional-level capabilities via the private banking platform is expected. And it is here where Morgan Stanley PWM Asia delivers.

The bank’s private wealth clients benefit from the same institutional platform, content, access and services that Morgan Stanley offers its most heavyweight global institutional clients.

Responsibility for forging collaboration between the private and investment banks falls with Morgan Stanley’s Strategic Advisory Solutions (SAS) team, exemplifying the group’s dedication to the “one bank” concept. The holistic approach seeks to provide wealth management clients with comprehensive access to the US lender’s best-in-class capital market offerings and investment banking capabilities, ranging from initial public offerings, and single-share financing, to mergers & acquisitions.

Since the Wall Street bank is a research powerhouse, this is naturally an area where its Asian private bank clients enjoy the fruits of Morgan Stanley’s integrated platform.

The lender’s research function houses world-renowned analysts, strategists and economists who together deliver timely, in-depth and insightful investment views and recommendations to Morgan Stanley PWM Asia clients.

Globally, the team covers about 3,600 stocks, or nearly 90% of the MSCI World index. On a regional basis, Morgan Stanley covers 1,400 individual equities, or around 90% of the market capitalisation of the MSCI Asia benchmark.

This research forms a robust intellectual base on which the private bank can develop discretionary mandates and make informed recommendations to clients through its advisory platform.

These interconnections are brought to life through the SAS team’s efforts to engage UHNWI clients in

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“We are honoured to be recognised by Asian Private Banker for the integrated platform we offer to our UHNW clients, particularly entrepreneurs and asset owners. In Asia, UHNW clients demand and expect institutional services, products and ideas.

To provide the customised solutions suitable to their needs we are able to draw on the strength of the resources and our internal partnership with Investment Banking, Capital Markets, Research and Institutional Sales and Trading. When a client works with Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia, they are working with the House of Morgan Stanley.”

-V incent Chui, head of Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia

a strategic dialogue regarding their corporate and capital requirements. That dialogue works both ways: investment banking clients are regularly referred to the wealth management business, and vice versa.

The tight-knit nature of Morgan Stanley’s different platforms proved advantageous during the market volatility seen in the region in 2021. Morgan Stanley PWM was one of the first private banks in the region to sound the alarm on liquidity issues at highly leveraged Chinese developers, a view which in part was guided by the firm’s debt and equity capital market insight and expertise.

Such visibility and first-hand sector knowledge would not be possible at most private banks in Asia-Pacific.

According to figures shared with Asian Private Banker during the awards judging process, revenues derived from Morgan Stanley’s integrated platform grew at a rate not seen elsewhere in the region, while client assets derived via this channel rose at an impressive pace.

That is why Morgan Stanley PWM Asia has been deemed the winner of Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Integrated Platform for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Tee Fong Seng CEO, Pictet Wealth Management Asia

PICTET WEALTH MANAGEMENT The beauty of a pure private banking model lies in the ability to provide clients with the best of a wealth manager’s strengths and in the alignment of client and bank interests.

Founded in 1805 in Geneva, Pictet has always run with an independent private partnership model and has only had 45 partners since then, each with average tenure of over 20 years. The long tenure and low turnover rate has guaranteed the stability of its management — the secret recipe for cross-generational success in wealth management, having been through wars, political upheavals and economic crises.

The absence of external stakeholders and the insistence on seeking pure organic growth has guaranteed that the purpose of the bank has remained unchanged over the years — which is to build responsible partnerships with clients, colleagues, communities and the companies in which the bank invests.

In 2020, as part of its Ambition 2025, Pictet identified The Rise of Asia as one of the seven global themes, that will have major implications for investors, clients and the financial industry. Pictet sees Asia both as a strategic asset class attracting a greater portion of international investment and as a region for the bank’s business expansion.

Despite the economic uncertainties brought by the pandemic in Asia, Pictet achieved steady growth with record highs across multiple key business metrics in 2021: an over 30% YoY increase in AUM (as of September 2021 annualised) and a similar rise in net new money (NNM) inflows, strong double-digit expansion in revenue with a tilt towards developing recurring income, and a mid-single digit growth in the number of client accounts, despite the difficulties in conducting physical meetings.

Such business performance tops the chart for pure plays and ranks amongst the best for all private banks operating in Asia in the said year.

The ability to ride the tides stems from Pictet’s focus on being an investment-led service company with an industry high of over 50% of its Asian wealth management AUM in managed solutions across mandates and funds, as well

“We are honoured to receive this Award from Asian Private Banker and I am truly proud of all the Pictet Wealth Management Asia team has achieved in the past two years despite the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This award is strong testimony to the collective success in accelerating the growth of our franchise in line with the Pictet Group’s long-term ambition for Asia, while firmly keeping to the guiding principles on which Pictet has been built for over two centuries.

It speaks volumes of our team’s dedication and focus on staying true to Pictet’s independence and the alignment of interest with our clients, built upon the bedrock of the group’s unique private partnership model. It vindicates the focus on maintaining Pictet’s entrepreneurial spirit and agility while navigating new ways of serving clients, and most importantly the commitment to building longterm partnerships with clients through our investment leadership.

We look forward to another successful year in 2022 and many years to come!”

- Tee Fong Seng, CEO, Pictet Wealth Management Asia

as having leading alternative advisory capabilities — the firm also has one of the highest alternative assets penetration rates of private banks in Asia.

The firm’s investment advisory team combines inhouse expertise and open architecture to achieve the best outcomes for clients who are able to access products, services and strategies through discretionary or advisory mandates.

On the back of its heritage of being a trusted private bank for over two centuries, Pictet managed to shine in an era of uncertainty, bringing its investments and intergenerational wealth management expertise to wealthy families in Asia and delivering a record year in 2021.

Pictet Wealth Management is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Pure Play for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Benjamin Cavalli head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse

CREDIT SUISSE The Asia Pacific has always been a vibrant region for wealth management with countries at different economic development phases, each growing at a different pace. In-depth knowledge around clients’ product appetite, regulatory development as well as the local business environment is essential to establish a successful wealth management business model that speaks to HNW clients in the target markets.

After rushing into digitalisation in 2020, multiple private banks began to establish and expand onshore wealth management offerings in APAC over the past year since stringent quarantine and travel restrictions imposed by various authorities began to take a toll on relationships between onshore clients and offshore bankers.

Credit Suisse has long recognised the need to be the pioneer in digital banking offerings and to grow its onshore presence even before the global pandemic outbreak. Such vision allows the bank to harvest significant top and bottom-line growth in APAC, with a substantial amount of revenue generated from the HNW segment, despite facing investment headwinds in multiple markets over the past 12 months.

The Swiss bank entered the wealth management sector in Korea in partnership with a local player and opened an onshore office in Thailand in 2016. The firm onboarded a number of senior talents for its onshore India business and continued to prepare talents and infrastructure needed to bring its wealth management business into onshore China.

A well planned and executed onshoring exercise is crucial to HNW business as it opens doors for the private bank to meet new clients at the earlier stage of wealth creation. The bank’s perseverance has been rewarded with an accelerating growth on the bank’s share of onshore AUM over the past few years.

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“It is an honour to be recognised as the Best Private Bank – Asia Pacific HNW in this inaugural category.

This accolade acknowledges our strong capabilities for clients in this important segment across Asia Pacific. We are steadfastly committed to delivering the highest standard of wealth management services to clients and their families, and provide them with access to best-in-class investment solutions, insightful and timely market outlook and investment ideas, and the convenience of banking with us through our digital wealth management channels.

We are fully dedicated and passionate to work in close partnership with clients and support them as they grow their assets in both their personal and corporate worlds. ” - Benjamin Cavalli, head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse demonstrated a systematic business approach in segmenting and tallying the number of HNW clients in the region and identifying this group as the core segment of growth. In addition to RMs, HNW clients are mostly positioned to serve by the bank’s state-ofthe-art digital services with select access to investment and product specialists. In terms of product access, HNW clients can access most offerings of the firm — including bespoke financing, advisory and discretionary mandates, as well as wealth planning services.

With a clearly identified business strategy, an ambitious onshoring plan and pioneering digital banking offering, the judging panel is convinced that Credit Suisse is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Asia Pacific HNW for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Vincent Chui head of Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia

MORGAN STANLEY PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT ASIA The performance of Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management (PWM) Asia both in terms of the top-line business and AUM growth would have been impressive enough in a sanguine year for markets. But that it arrived during a punishing period for both Chinese equities and high-yield bonds was nothing short of remarkable.

The US bank’s efforts in preserving and growing the wealth of its regional UHNW and asset owners clientele — the bulk of which have more than US$100 million in investable assets per head — comes down to proactive, effective risk mitigation; astute directional calls on the market; and an unrelenting drive to deepen client relationships as well as forge new ones despite ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

According to figures shared with the judging panel during the awards process, revenues derived from Morgan Stanley PWM Asia’s UHNW clientele jumped by a magnitude not seen anywhere else in the regional private banking industry, while client assets too increased sharply.

That partly reflected the dedication with which Morgan Stanley PWM Asia — a Greater China behemoth focused on the offshore hub of Hong Kong with a fast growing Singapore branch — strove to maintain client interaction and prospecting despite travel lockdowns in the region.

Through a combination of versatility and additional safety measures, the Morgan Stanley PWM Asia bankers were among the most pro-active in the industry when it came to regional travel in 2021.

The bank signed up a proportion of new clients during the year that was nothing short of breathtaking compared to some of its regional peers — a feat that is all the more impressive given Morgan Stanley PWM Asia’s smaller number of RMs compared to some peers and its strict standard on client selection to safeguard franchise risk.

But perhaps more important was the bank’s effort to prioritise risk mitigation. Morgan Stanley PWM Asia is well known as an equity-minded powerhouse on account of the firm’s global leadership in equity trading and research.

“We are honoured to be recognised by Asian Private Banker for our dedication to the Asian UHNW business.

Such clients are typically highly successful entrepreneurs, businesses and asset owners who expect services and products of an institutional standard.

At Morgan Stanley, we treat institutional clients and UHNW clients alike, given their AUM, sophistication and expectations, and strive to provide differentiated institutional ideas and solutions suitable to their needs.”

-V incent Chui, head of Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia

That position could leave client balances more vulnerable at times when the region’s stock markets buckle, as they did in China in 2021. Astutely, however, the bank decided to take a cautious view on Chinese A-shares at the start of 2021, a call that served as an excellent demonstration of Morgan Stanley’s heavyweight research capabilities at the group level.

The bank was able to spare its clients the worst of the Chinese property developers carnage when the highly leveraged high-yield issuers hit a liquidity crisis, urging them to exit or hedge the bonds earlier than many of its peers and slashing loan-to-value.

Finally, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia in 2021 proved itself capable of blasting through its own ambitious internal targets — another facet of the bank’s pitch that impressed Asian Private Banker’s judging panel. Demonstrating this, 2021 marked the first year of the bank’s three-year “PWM 2.0” transformation project. Despite a year of stomach-churning volatility in the markets, the bank was able to tick off 50% of the business objectives it had set itself for the full three years in a profound signal of intent and momentum.

For those reasons, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Asia-Pacific UHNW for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Kenny Ho CEO and managing partner, Carret Private

CARRET PRIVATE Following the strategic alliance with Singapore’s Lumen Capital Investors in 2019 and the acquisition of CSOP’s multi-family office business in 2020, Hong Kong-based independent wealth manager Carret Private carried its impressive recent growth trajectory into 2021.

But the mettle of Carret Private, which provides investment management and related services to family offices in the region, was truly tested last year amid choppy markets.

While 2021 was a volatile year for equities and bonds across Asia-Pacific, a proposed portfolio by the firm still achieved a high single-digit return, according to data seen by Asian Private Banker’s judging panel. More important, however, is Carret Private’s long-term success in generating out-performance for clients. Annualised returns in recent years coming in significantly higher than a portfolio comprising 50% global equity and 50% global bonds, with lower maximum drawdowns and a higher Sharpe ratio.

Carret Private differs from many of its peers in that it takes a client-centric approach to portfolio construction. The wealth manager does not believe in timing the market or taking top down views on asset classes, but instead takes into account risk tolerance, return expectation and liquidity requirements to deliver customised portfolios that withstand drawdowns and deliver long-term returns.

Against a backdrop of sky-high valuations for traditional asset classes, Carret Private is a firm believer in the importance of alternative investments as a driver of alpha, and has proved its ability to tap industry connections to source exclusive deals in this area for clients.

But all of this would mean little if it did not equal improved business performance for Carret Private. According to figures shared during the judging process, the firm enjoyed robust growth in AUM during the period under consideration, with the majority of this rise coming from new client assets rather than just investing prowess.

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“As a firm, Carret Private has been fortunate to be able to build a foundation of highly experienced investment professionals who all follow and abide by the principles in which we manage our client assets.

This award from Asian Private Banker, the leading Asian publication, is a true testament to the people which have built this firm and the principles for which we stand. ” - Kenny Ho, CEO and managing partner, Carret Private

Perhaps most impressively, a significant proportion of the inflows came from new accounts. While Carret Private admitted that limits on travel due to COVID-19 made the process of new account openings difficult in 2020, the wealth manager took full advantage of a relative easing in restrictions in the region last year to actively engage with prospects and onboard clients.

Those new client assets gathered in 2021 have already started feeding through to Carret Private’s top-line, with the bigger asset base translating into higher revenues.

The wealth manager also enlarged the proportion of its revenues derived from more stable recurring income sources, such as discretionary portfolio management, during the year.

The icing on the cake, if one were needed, is that the upturn in business performance coincided with a significant improvement in Carret Private’s cost-toincome ratio. That was partly down to the larger revenue base, but the firm has also cut costs via organisational streamlining and restructuring, as well as making tentative investments in digitalisation and automation.

These are the reasons why Carret Private has been chosen by Asian Private Banker as the Best Independent Wealth Manager – Asia Pacific for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Greg Hingston CEO, HSBC Global Insurance and Partnerships and interim head of Wealth and Personal Banking, South Asia

HSBC GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKING For Asian Private Banker’s inaugural Awards for Distinction – Wealth Continuum accolade, one bank stood tall above its peers in terms of providing a seamless client experience and services across the entire wealth spectrum — from mass affluent to HNW and UHNW. During 2021, HSBC accelerated a major pivot to Asian wealth that has seen the bank hire hundreds of fresh faces in order to serve clients running the length and breadth of the wealth continuum, from Private Banking, to Jade, and Premier.

That was coupled with a dedication to boost products and services. Among its enhancements were the launch of a six-step digital investment account opening procedure for Premier clients in Hong Kong, Singapore and India — enabling them to open an investment account digitally and subsequently start investing on their mobile device within 24 hours — as well as a first-in-the-market digital portfolio advisory service in Hong Kong and a tailormade private fund solution for HNWI clients.

Over the last 12 months, HSBC extended Lombard lending services along the client continuum. In addition, Wealth clients in Hong Kong and Singapore were able to benefit from enhanced portfolio analytics following the launch of the Aladdin Wealth platform for these account holders.

All of those efforts paid off in the form of strong business performance across Wealth client segments during the period under consideration, with revenue, AUM and net new money (NNM) all demonstrating robust growth. On the NNM front, this was driven by a balance of new client acquisitions and referrals from within HSBC. The boost to the top line was thanks to healthy inflows into mutual funds and equities.

Other landmarks for HSBC’s wealth continuum business in the region during 2021 were improvements to its

“The past twelve months have been formative for our wealth business in Asia and the delivery of our Asia Wealth strategy. With this, we are bringing a differentiated model to serve the full spectrum of clients’ needs along the wealth continuum — from first-time investors to UHNW entrepreneurs and families.

This model sets us apart as the trusted partner who evolves with clients as they progress through their life stages, combining our unparalleled international network, robust balance sheet, leading capabilities as a global trade, commercial, corporate and investment bank, and in-house manufacturing expertise.

By harnessing our inherent strengths and connectivity as a global universal bank, we are bringing the best of HSBC to deliver a wealth experience which helps all customers achieve sustainable prosperity.”

- Greg Hingston, CEO, HSBC Global Insurance and Partnerships and interim head of Wealth and Personal Banking, South Asia

digital offerings. In August 2021, HSBC GPB rolled out its messaging platform — powered by Symphony — to facilitate RM-client communication via instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and WeChat. The bank has so far seen strong adoption of these platforms.

Other digital upgrades for HNW clients in Asia include providing access to its online trading platform to trade cash equities, ETFs, and FX. According to figures shared

by HSBC with the judging panel, wealth transactions via digital channels exhibited a significant increase during the period under review.

This is why HSBC Global Private Banking is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Wealth Continuum for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Adrian Zuercher co-head CIO Global Investment Management, UBS GWM APAC

Monica Chatterjee co-head CIO Global Investment Management, UBS GWM APAC

UBS For discretionary portfolio management (DPM), 2021 proved to be the year these strategies came of age among Asia-Pacific’s private banks.

Penetration rates, both in terms of client base and AUM, rose sharply across the region among the major industry players during the year as volatility in markets such as China led clients to realise the importance of more systematic and disciplined investment, reducing some of their DIY portfolios in favour of managed solutions.

Nowhere was this more the case than at UBS, with the Swiss universal bank benefiting from a wave of inflows into its DPM strategies in the region, backed by robust performance of its mandates and continuous innovation.

Among the enhancements made to UBS’s DPM offering in 2021 were an increase in sustainable investments exposure in its traditional offering from 5% to about a third of globally diversified portfolios. In another move to boost its sustainability offerings, the bank launched an emerging markets sustainable finance strategy that uses fixed income solutions to assist in bridging funding gaps in the developing world and contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a strategy launched in partnership with currency manager Record.

These innovations would have mattered little if UBS’s mandates had failed to deliver robust returns to clients.

However, return data provided by the bank showed that global multi-asset, global equity and global fixed income discretionary mandates all generated meaningful alpha during 2021, topping corresponding numbers provided by others in the market. Performance last year was boosted by profitable tactical calls, including an overweight for global energy to capitalise on easing travel restrictions and a long NZD-EUR position on an anticipated divergence in interest rates. Such calls get seamlessly integrated into clients’ discretionary mandates.

The Swiss bank’s DPM offering happens to be supported by the most intuitive and innovative digital platform in the market. Launched in 2020, UBS [My Way] offers clients

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“I am thrilled that our team has been recognised for its industry leading portfolio management capabilities.

Mandates are the core of our value chain and are a centre piece for UBS to differentiate itself from the competition by delivering superior returns. I am very proud of what we have achieved and a big thank you to the team for getting us this far.”

-A drian Zuercher, co-head CIO Global Investment Management, UBS GWM APAC “By showcasing UBS [My Way] and our SI mandates, we successfully demonstrated how we are delivering on both our UBS purpose and Client Promise. Our ability to seamlessly encapsulate all elements of both resonated with the judges. This award is made possible with everyone’s hard work in delivering superior mandate solutions.”

-M onica Chatterjee, co-head CIO Global Investment Management, UBS GWM APAC

more than 50 investment ‘building blocks’ to craft their portfolio, ranging from US equities, to hedge funds, to ESG themes. Clients, if they so choose, can construct their personalised DPM strategy in a matter of minutes.

While most prefer the guidance of their client advisors to build their My Way portfolios, the platform comes with a smart digital interface that hints at the future of portfolio construction.

Ultimately, the proof of the pudding is in the eating when it comes to the performance of UBS’s DPM business in the region. Comparing figures shared with Asian Private Banker for 2021 versus the prior year, UBS saw a significant rise in DPM penetration both in AUM and number of clients accounts, supporting a large increase in assets held in these strategies in the region.

That is why UBS is the winner of Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Discretionary Portfolio Management award for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Kenny Ho CEO and managing partner, Carret Private

CARRET PRIVATE In a world where many of the major asset classes are teetering at record high valuations amid torrents of monetary stimulus, Carret Private is taking a very different approach to preserving and growing its clients’ capital.

The independent wealth manager, which focuses on serving family offices across Asia, takes a client-centric approach to portfolio construction. Rather than drawing up a portfolio that takes a top-down view on asset classes, Carret Private instead amalgamates clients’ risk tolerance, return expectation and liquidity requirements to deliver customised portfolios that withstand drawdowns and deliver long-term returns.

The investment team at Carret Private does not believe in market timing or individual stock picking, but rather shaping the equity portion of any portfolio around capturing alpha via secular trends such as the digital economy and ageing populations. For the fixed income components of its DPM offerings, Carret Private takes the view that structural near-zero interest rates have diluted not only return potential but also any diversification benefits and so instead uses low-cost ETFs to give clients exposure to quality Asian investment-grade issuers and select high-yield names.

But it is on the alternative investments side that Carret Private has excelled in delivering alpha to clients. Through its industry network, the independent wealth advisor has been able to source private equity deals and hedge funds not typically available to traditional private bank clients. While Carret Private is strategy agnostic, it has consistently proved itself capable of sourcing hedge fund managers with a track record of outperforming the market and peers on a risk adjusted basis. Performance data shared with Asian Private Banker showed that a basket of hedge funds chosen by Carret Private delivered better annualised returns than a 50% global equity, 50% global bond portfolio with a much lower average drawdown and a higher Sharpe ratio.

“Strategically, Carret Private has been increasing the resources it invests in discretionary portfolio management, which has resulted in even better and more consistent, risk adjusted returns.

As an added bonus, we are very excited to receive this tremendous honour from Asian Private Banker, the leading wealth management publication Asia.”

- Kenny Ho, CEO and managing partner, Carret Private

By investing its own capital alongside that of investors, the approach of Carret Private’s management to DPM benefits from a significant alignment of interests.

That philosophy helped to generate significant alpha for Carret Private’s DPM clients during the period under review. A global equity-focused portfolio constructed by the independent wealth manager significantly outperformed the MSCI World Index on time frames including one-, three- and five-years. A global multiasset portfolio built by the firm has likewise generated impressive relative returns for clients.

According to figures shared with Asian Private Banker during the judging process, Carret Private’s penetration rate for its DPM strategy — both in terms of its client base and the AUM — was the highest among all submissions. The judging panel was equally impressed by the overall net inflows into Carret Private’s DPM strategy and its return on assets during the period under consideration.

That is why Carret Private is named Asian Private Banker’s Best Independent Wealth Manager – Discretionary Portfolio Management at the 2021 Awards for Distinction.

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Vincent Chui Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia

Arnaud Tellier BNP Paribas Wealth Management

Andy Chai Bank J. Safra Sarasin

Cai Xinfa Ping An Bank

David Shick Bank Julius Baer

Jasmine Duan RBC Wealth Management – Asia

Kwang Kam Shing J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia

August Hatecke UBS Global Wealth Management

Amy Lo UBS Global Wealth Management

Lok Yim Deutsche Bank International Private Bank APAC

Michael Blake Union Bancaire Privée

Terence Chow RBC Wealth Management – Asia

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The Final Word is a year-in-review in which the region’s private banking and wealth management leaders share their thoughts with Asian Private Banker on key issues around industr y trends, investments, regulations, and technology in 2021, as well as providing their predictions for 2022.

Alok Saigal Edelweiss Wealth Management

Andreas Zingg Bank Julius Baer

For this year's edition, The Final Word bookends the coverage of APB's Awards for Distinction, in which the editorial team provides its justification for selecting the winning private banks and wealth managers.

Benjamin Cavalli Credit Suisse

Bhaskar Laxminarayan Bank Julius Baer

Eleven Ying Heritvest Global

Jean Chia Bank of Singapore

The Final

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Raymond Ang Standard Chartered Bank

Tan Siew Meng HSBC Global Private Banking

Tee Fong Seng Pictet Wealth Management

Jason Moo Bank Julius Baer

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What will be the key investment themes that shape both global markets and those in the region in 2022 and how is that feeding into how you advise clients?

Tan Siew Meng, regional head, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking Our latest investment outlook presents three long-term structural changes that we believe bring with them important investment considerations — and opportunities. The first, what we call “Remaking Asia’s Future”, looks at how Asian economies have responded to the pandemic, taking advantage of their growing technological expertise and expanding wealth, and ramping up reforms for a more sustainable and resilient growth model.

Our second long-term theme is “Digital Transformation” and, within that, our four highconviction themes of Smart Mobility; Automation & AI; Biotechnology, Genomics & Devices; and Total Security. Our focus is on where we see that transformation has picked up momentum such that we are seeing the emergence of real, tangible benefits — and where that innovation is positively transforming business and the global economy.

Our third theme is “Investing for a Sustainable Future”. We are unequivocal in our belief that now is the time to take action and the Group has taken a number of decisive steps aimed at stemming climate change. As an investment theme, we believe sustainability should feature in the core portfolio strategy and thematic satellites — both to manage risks and capture opportunities that arise given that all companies will be affected by new regulations, the vast investments and opportunities, and changing consumer choices stemming from the sustainability revolution.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank Our theme for 2022 is ‘A winding road to normality’. While we start the year with significant uncertainty regarding the Omicron variant, we still believe 2022 will be a year where we increasingly ‘learn to live’ with COVID-19.

This should help the still-strong growth in Developed Markets increasingly permeate the rest of the world. This will be matched with a gradual normalisation of monetary policy settings. Normally this is an environment of continued outperformance for equities and high-yield bonds and we see no reason for this to change in the current cycle. That said, returns

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are unlikely to match the performance over the past 21 months and volatility is likely to increase so it is important for investors to ensure that their portfolio holdings are consistent with their ability to absorb temporary losses.

Vincent Chui, head of Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia Sustainable investing will accelerate as the core investment approach by asset owners in Asia outside Japan and Australia. Globally, sustainable assets have reached US$35 trillion, accounting for a third of global AUM and dominated by assets based in the US, Europe and Japan. It may grow to US$53 trillion by 2025.

Investors should focus on companies for which ESG creates new opportunities for topline growth, reduces regulatory and public policy risks and aligns with COP26 goals.

Tee Fong Seng, CEO AsiaPacific, Pictet Wealth Management After three years of doubledigit returns for major stock indices, 2022 could be a decisive year for markets even if COVID-19 concerns recede, and also a delicate one for investors. To survive and prosper, they may have to change their behaviour as circumstances dictate.

Firstly, some central banks are withdrawing liquidity support and winding down quantitative easing schemes. Markets will be doubly challenged when the Federal Reserve starts raising rates. How far monetary tightening goes will largely depend on the inflation outlook, and one will have to distinguish which price rises will prove to be transitory and which ones are structural. Supply-chain problems could ease quickly in certain sectors, but labour shortages are here to stay. In any case, the economic cycle could become volatile, especially if inflation concerns induce central banks into making policy mistakes and new COVID-19 waves force partial shutdowns. A renewed pandemic wave could keep workers at home, worsening labour market tightness.

The range of possible market outcomes in 2022 is unusually wide and the gains of the past three years are unlikely to be repeated.

We still see areas of opportunity as the recovery continues, but picking the right spots will call for exceptional nimbleness. The road

ahead may not be a smooth one, and such fragile conditions justify an active-management approach to investing.

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management The 2022 economic landscape, w i t h a n e x p e c t e d 4% g l o b a l growth, sees some risks in 1Q22 due to the Omicron variant but the world at large is still benefiting from a generous fiscal policy. On policy rates, the Fed and the ECB are expected to end the tapering in March as inflation exceeds central banks’ target. Against this backdrop, earnings growth should normalise to a more reasonable level. Our bank predicts high single-digit growth in the developed markets and double-digit EPS growth in Asia.

At Indosuez, the top five investment themes for global equities are: rising inflation (value/ cyclical & strong pricing power), secular growth trends (disruptive technology), ESG investments, infrastructure investments and increased M&A activity. While all financial assets currently have high valuations, relative to history, the higher equity risk premium suggests that, at least on a relative basis, equities remain attractive and are likely to provide a real return as inflation rises.

In terms of asset allocation, we continue to employ multi-asset portfolios tilted on a risk-on mode, favouring equities but we also maintain exposure in high yield and emerging debt. On regions, we focus on developed markets as a start but an exposure on emerging markets equities, debt and currencies could increase gradually.

Benjamin Cavalli, head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse Relatively more attractive investment opportunities can be found in Asian markets. Improving valuations in Asia in 2021 were driven by strong earnings growth of 40%.

As demand for technology products normalises alongside related supply chains, it is likely that the technology sector will experience an earnings contraction. And even though we anticipate stronger earnings growth from Southeast Asia as tourism recovers, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan is likely to generate just 8% earnings for 2022.

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Attractive opportunities lie in the thematic sphere.

For example, our “Sustainable China” basket, which captures opportunities in a number of China’s policy-supported sectors, is exposed to opportunities in sectors such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, 5G and semiconductors.

Our “Beautiful Europe” investment theme is designed to take advantage of demand for luxury goods among Chinese consumers and the pricing power of luxury goods producers in Europe. We prefer equity markets with a cyclical tilt including Japan, as we expect the Japanese machinery, electric appliances, and transportation equipment sectors to benefit from the post-pandemic global recovery.

Fixed income investors will experience challenging conditions in 2022. As inflation moderates and bond yields rise, real rates should improve, but generating positive returns in fixed income will still be difficult. Hence, we are overweight senior loans. They benefit from rising interest rates, and are already offering an attractive yield of 5.5%, which compares well with 4.4% in US high yields. In terms of fundamentals, the US senior loan default rate continues to improve and should remain low in 2022 considering recent rating upgrades.

In Asia, we prefer the non-China property segment of the Asia high yield (HY) complex.

This market segment accounts for around 60% of total Asia HY credit and should benefit from strong growth in both South and Southeast Asia in 2022, where policy normalisation is likely to be gradual.

Asia HY ex-China property is surprisingly healthy at the fundamental level, with a sharp improvement in the default rate (from 12.7% in 2020 to just 2.3% in 2021), in stark contrast to the roughly 30% in the China property segment. Specifically, we favour short duration (one to three years) BB-rated bonds, as these offer yields that compare favourably with the equivalent US HY segment.

In alternative investments, real estate should still benefit from the low interest rate environment, as well as the continuing economic recovery.

The economic backdrop remains supportive for private markets as well, while hedge funds should deliver modest returns close to the historical average.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée Global markets are entering a new mini-cycle in 2022, after rebounding from a V-shaped recession. Economic growth is set to slow, while global inflation should remain elevated throughout the first half of the year. This landscape will create some challenges for global investors driven by rising long-term

yields and heightened volatility. Despite these headwinds, investors should expect lower, but still largely positive returns on equities, with larger drawdowns.

In this context, we are focusing on proactive risk management, with an emphasis on quality earnings and long-cycle transformational themes, such as the energy transition.

Alternatives such as hedge funds can also present useful asymmetrical exposure should volatility rise in 2022.

Lok Yim, head of Deutsche Bank International Private Bank APAC Inflation and central banks will be in focus. This should be the year where central bank policy really starts to change gear – with other central banks starting to follow the Fed's line on tightening.

But there will be plenty of other regime shifts underway too (in terms of inflation, climate, geopolitics and technology, among others).

Acting now on strategic asset allocation and ESG in portfolios should help capture this process of change. This is an important time to focus on strategic asset allocation. Market timing around such complex processes of change will not be enough, with an effective strategic asset allocation likely to prove a much more effective and reliable source of long-term returns.

Environmental and ESG issues more broadly (including social and governance aspects) will become even more important for portfolios. The switch to a carbon-neutral economy will create many interesting opportunities.

Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia While growth is moderating from the post-COVID-19 peak, we think it will remain above its long-term average for two key reasons: (1) In developed markets, we see strong consumer spending and strong corporate balance sheets. We still recommend an overweight to equities but recommend a balance between growth and cyclical, and emphasis on earnings quality; (2) In emerging markets, we are more selective but still like growth drivers such as industrial upgrading, automation, and semiconductors. There may be some upside in EMs as well, due to more domestic and external re-opening.

Andy Chai, Asia CEO, Bank J. Safra Sarasin We expect economic growth to remain strong and labour markets to improve in 2022 and 2023. Supply bottlenecks and COVID-related restrictions have led to temporary setbacks and will probably persist, though to a lesser extent.

Still, strong demand means that companies have more pricing power and workers more bargaining power than usual. Both should contribute to relatively elevated inflation rates even once the impact of the jump in energy prices has faded.

In our view, central banks will therefore have to remove monetary policy accommodation faster than they have so far indicated.

Moderating global growth and a more hawkish Federal Reserve have strengthened the USD this year. We expect the dollar strength to continue over the coming months, because the risks remain tilted towards an earlier US policy rate lift-off. Cyclical factors may become a headwind for the dollar later in 2022. The euro should benefit from a pick-up in manufacturing activity along with commodity currencies, while the Brexit-related drag on UK growth should weigh on the GBP in the coming year. Both the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen should benefit from low inflation rates. We finally also turn more constructive on gold.

Bhaskar Laxminarayan, CIO and head investment management APAC, Bank Julius Baer Inflation and central bank policy making are likely to be key topics that will dominate investment conversations this year. Though inflation concerns should start to ease through the year, a policy mistake may still be on the cards. The world will move more firmly towards a post-pandemic normal which should set the stage for the next structural growth winners.

Some key themes — such as climate change, emission free transportation, cloud computing and artificial intelligence — are likely to stay in focus.

Digital assets should gain further acceptance with adoption rates surprising on the upside.

With monetary policy normalisation, we see relatively more volatility in markets. In view of this, we will put more emphasis on flexible fixed income strategies, income-generation strategies in alternative assets such as real estate, infrastructure etc.

Genetic therapy, healthcare, innovation and sustainability focused investments will remain key megatrends for 2022.

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Arnaud Tellier, CEO Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas WM In 2022, uncertainty will remain and volatility will prevail as inflation, central bank reactions, the threat of new variants and geo-political tensions are key risks that will combine with high valuation of some sectors.

We have identified five investment themes in 2022. One is ‘Riding a New Inflation Regime’, in that inflation and the Fed’s policy tightening will continue to take the driver’s seat in the financial market. This remains our key theme. We favour energy, mining, resources and financials sectors, real assets (particularly Asian commercial real estate) and commodity currencies.

The next themes are “Identifying Winning Investments & Innovations” and “Repair, Reuse, Recycle”. Both public and private sectors are increasing capex significantly with the former to stimulate economic recovery and to meet aggressive net zero targets (e.g. Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill and the EU’s Recovery Fund), and the latter to upgrade technology for remote working and to resolve supply chains disruptions. This gives rise to plenty of interesting opportunities in areas such as health tech, infrastructure, smart technology, sustainable food and energy transition.

Companies did not invest in capex during the last cycle, hence, the shortage in so many sectors when economies reopened.

Our fourth theme is “Small is (Still) Beautiful”.

Small caps tend to outperform large caps in the long run and especially during times of economic expansion, as where we are now. Also, large companies have been actively acquiring smaller companies at a premium with the number of M&A deals reaching a record high. The recent underperformance provides opportunities to add this as part of a satellite allocation.

Theme five is “Enter the Metaverse”. In terms of megatrends, Facebook changed its name to Meta and the term “Metaverse” is causing a buzz. Investors should grab the opportunities and be among the first to “Enter the Metaverse”. As yields rise, the US technology sector underperforms. As the market prices in rate hikes, the correction in technology shares will create opportunities in specific niches to invest in this megatrend.

Jean Chia, CIO and head of Portfolio Management and Research Office, Bank of Singapore 2022 will be a year of recalibration for investors globally as inflationary pressures coincide with the withdrawal of pandemic-induced liquidity and gradual paring down of fiscal and monetary support for economies worldwide. Instead, quantitative tightening, interest rate hikes and higher real yields will drive markets into bouts of short-term volatility across asset classes.

Super-impose this macro backdrop against (a) China’s structural adjustments to an economy centred on “common prosperity” (b) a global pivot to focus on net zero outcomes for climate change and (c) a major leap into a digitallycentric economy including re-building a metareality beyond our universe. Based on these key themes, we advise portfolio builders to consider the new narrative with the 3Vs in mind: Volatility, Value and Vulnerability.

Volatility: As the tide of liquidity ebbs and the world confronts the realities of an uneven pace of global recovery, we expect capital markets to be volatile. Historically, bull markets do not end at the beginning of rate hike cycles, but shortterm corrections are not unusual as treasury yields rise sharply to respond to inflationary expectations.

Investors with well-positioned portfolios need not fear volatility but should be prepared for these bouts with sufficient cash buffers to potentially take advantage of drawdowns to build long-term positions at the “right price.”

Appropriate exposure via derivatives by buying options when volatility is low and selling them during periods of elevated volatility could complement overall portfolio risk-return.

Valuations: Equities remain an attractive asset class, considering the positive global economic growth and corporate earnings trends, but a rebalance is in progress. We see a compelling case for real economy sectors in cyclical and value stocks (e.g. financials, industrials, real estate and energy) as investors look for earnings growth, cash flow and resilience against inflationary pressures. Growth sectors, especially early-stage unprofitable technology and new economy companies, may be vulnerable to volatility in the short run, but we maintain core exposure in quality technology companies with business models that play to longer-term tech trends.

Vulnerability: As we confront the US rate hike cycle, returns for fixed income portfolios will be sensitive to both portfolio duration, as well as credit selection that considers balance sheet strength, credit fundamentals and valuations that

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adequately reward bond holders for the risk.

Just as diversification played a key role for us in weathering the storm in China property bonds within Emerging Markets credit, we believe judicious credit selection will be key in 2022 as we remain watchful of risks and vulnerabilities within emerging markets.

Jasmine Duan, investment strategist, RBC Wealth Management – Asia R B C We a l t h M a n a g e m e n t i s positive on ‘Sustech’ stocks in the medium to long-term, namely technology companies that can help to solve global sustainability issues. We see SusTech as centred on five key themes: GreenTech, HealthTech, F i nTe c h , F o o d Te c h / A g r i Te c h a n d S m a r t Cities. These five themes illustrate innovative solutions that seek to future-proof the planet for generations to come. We believe companies that are at the forefront of these technologies will benefit and thus we will look for opportunities to accumulate after each correction.

The green transition is a key investment theme that we think investors should still pay attention to in 2022. As the world pushes toward aggressive carbon reduction goals, the green energy transformation could represent a grand economic realignment rivalling the industrial and information revolutions. Yale Professor William Nordhaus estimates it would take roughly US$100 - US$300 trillion in new capital on a global basis to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. There is little doubt in our minds this would bring opportunities for investors.

However, we encourage investors to be realistic and have longer-term investment horizons for these types of investments, as the transition to green energy could be bumpy, exemplified by the energy crisis in Europe and China last year. In addition, segments of populations could push back on carbon reduction initiatives if they negatively affect household finances or employment opportunities. New technology requires adaption, may experience occasional challenges and may require more time to play out. But for investors with higher risk appetite and a longer term investment horizon, investing in these companies may be a good source of outsized return for their portfolios.

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Eleven Ying, global market head and Singapore CEO, Heritvest Global Looking ahead to the global macro-economy in 2022, we believe that herd immunity of COVID-19 will be acquired globally. The momentum of the rapid recovery of developed economies in 2021 may weaken in 2022. The economic growth of emerging markets will increase as vaccination rates increase. This difference in economic growth is expected to return to the historical average level, which will help to resolve supply chain bottlenecks and the high inflation in global economic development.

There are two major risks to the improvement of the global macro environment in 2022: the global economy faces the risk of "quasi stagflation"; and supply chain bottlenecks may still restrict supply in the short term, and inflation will remain high, making it more difficult to coordinate policies.

Cai Xinfa, Ping An Group executive, special assistant to the Bank’s president and head of retail banking, Ping An Bank The key investment themes shaping global markets and the Asia-Pacific markets in 2022 will be "gradual recovery from the US to Europe to the emerging markets" and "interest rate increase".

Specifically, economic recovery will follow the sequence of "US → Europe → emerging markets", which will bring benefits to and subsequent impacts on different markets. The start of interest rate increases will have a significant negative impact on assets including stocks, bonds, and commodities.

Therefore, our recommendations for investing in the overseas markets are as follows: • •

It is expected that debt default risk prevention and control will be in the spotlight. There’s little room for fiscal policy to change. Monetary policy will move towards normalisation, global interest rates will rise, and values of various assets will be revalued. Under the unstable economic and financial environment, the asset allocation strategy will be seeking structural hedging around core assets.

Alok Saigal, head, Private Wealth, Edelweiss Wealth Management The biggest theme for global markets in 2022 is the reversal of rates globally and the liquidity tightening programme. Other parallel themes — such as the technology and start-up ecosystem in India, ESG, etc. — are equally playing an important role. We advise clients to maintain long-term asset allocation during such risky times and to reduce risk by either adopting risk management strategies or keeping dry powder handy to increase allocation during corrections.

In addition, we have recommended that clients allocate 5%-10% to gold as an asset class.

• •

US stocks: The general rally will end, and follow up on the institutional market.

Overseas bonds: Bonds in developed markets will generally face the impact of interest rate increase and balance sheet reductions, so their allocation ratio should be reduced. Asian bonds, Chinese USD bonds might go up again.

Crude oil: Lack of opportunities and trend downwards.

Gold: Need to wait until the end of interest rate increase for investment opportunities.

In 2022, market transactions will be carried out under the logic of "quasi stagflation", and for this reason the uncertainty will be high. We suggest that the overall asset allocation strategy in 2022 should focus on stability; pay attention to longer-term investment themes and grasp offensive opportunities.

In 2022, the global financial market will be affected by a variety of compound risk factors, and market volatility will increase. Considering risk and return expectation of various assets, from asset allocation perspective, our priority of markets is: developed economies > emerging economies; from asset category perspective, priority is: alternative investment > USD > global equity > commodities > gold > bonds.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Garth Bregman head of Investment Services, Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

BNP PARIBAS WEALTH MANAGEMENT While interest in sustainable assets has been increasing among private banking clients in Asia-Pacific as governments in the region set ambitious targets for emissions reductions, at least two factors collided in 2021 to supercharge the trend.

One was a torrent of data in the early part of the year showing that ESG-focused funds had on average outperformed the broader market in the month that followed the COVID-19 sell-off in early 2020. The second was the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference — known as COP26 — in the autumn, which coincided with a number of private banks committing to a net-zero carbon economy.

BNP Paribas was among those to make that pledge, but the French lender’s private banking arm also stood out during the year for its efforts in bringing sustainable solutions to its Asia-Pacific clients.

Among the aspects that set BNP Paribas WM apart are its staunch efforts in recent years to integrate ESG screening into the core of its investment process.

Of the bank’s AUM across Asia-Pacific, 70% of wealth management assets have been given an ESG score according to the bank’s proprietary ‘Clover’ rating system as of 2Q21, up from 50% 12 months earlier. BNP Paribas WM aims to boost that to 90% of AUM by 2025, with a target of around 50% of assets scored between five and 10 Clovers, which means “significant integration of ESG criteria” or “impact investing”.

BNP Paribas WM has proved it can deliver outperformance as part of its ESG offering. Of the mainstream and thematic ESG funds offered by the bank’s investment advisory, the vast majority have outperformed the MSCI World index on a one-, three- and five-year annualised timeline, according to figures shared with Asian Private Banker. Additionally, as of June 2021, the penetration of ESG funds among clients was 40%, or more than double the figure 12 months earlier.

The bank’s discretionary portfolio management (DPM) platform has been given an ESG facelift, in addition to it consistently generating alpha. During 2021, BNP Paribas

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“We greatly appreciate winning this coveted award for Best Private Bank – Sustainable Investments, a recognition of our ongoing commitment to developing an investment ecosystem that works towards creating a sustainable future.

We have experienced a sea change over the past few years in Asian clients’ interest in sustainable and responsible investing, impact investing and philanthropy.

The integration of ESG analysis across our product and services platform — with a clear methodology — has helped clients understand the level of ESG integration in each instrument or portfolio. This has led to many a valuable conversation about the positive impact clients wish to have through their investments, and to work towards these goals.

We believe the timing of this opportunity couldn’t be better and BNP Paribas as Group is best positioned to deliver on such an offering with its commitment and pioneering efforts on sustainability finance and integration of ESG methodology.”

- Garth Bregman, head of Investment Services, Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

WM tightened its ESG criteria in terms of securities selection for its mandates. All securities in the bank’s Sustainable Investment mandate are now rated five Clovers, or higher, with the Global Thematic and Smart Dividend Global comprising around two-thirds securities with a Clover score of five or more. The Sustainable Investment mandate has also demonstrated meaningful outperformance versus the MSCI Global.

Finally, the bank showed its resolve to drive inflows into ESG assets with a global sustainability campaign launched at the end of 2021. As part of the campaign, BNP Paribas WM will contribute to approved non-government organisations each time a client subscribes to one of the bank’s SRI funds.

That is why BNP Paribas WM has been awarded Asian Private Banker’s accolade for Best Private Bank – Sustainable Investments for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

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Word 2021 Sustainability is higher up the agenda for investors than ever, with last year’s United Nations COP26 event underscoring the scale of effort needed to achieve global net zero emissions by the middle of this century. How are you helping your clients to remove ESG risk from their portfolios and embrace sustainability in their investment strategy?

Tan Siew Meng, regional head, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking At HSBC, we are committed to sustainable growth and invest to further enrich our broad suite of wealth products within the ESG universe, powering new solutions to the climate crisis and supporting the transition to a low-carbon future.

There is a greater need to position portfolios for structural growth trends that relate to the sustainability revolution. Growing evidence has shown that incorporating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations can improve portfolio resilience by mitigating risk. In other words, putting a sustainability lens to your investments does not necessarily mean sacrificing returns. In fact, companies that mitigate risks and capture ESG-related opportunities outperform over the long run.

Our preferred way of incorporating ESG into investors’ portfolios is through a multi-asset approach, that actively manages risks and harvests new opportunities.

Sustainable investing is about investing in progress, and recognising that companies solving the world’s greatest challenges can be best positioned to grow. It is about pioneering better ways of doing business, and creating the momentum to encourage more and more people to opt into this green future.

Arnaud Tellier, CEO Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas WM What really stood out last year was the rise of SRI, globally and even in Asia. Extreme weather and events highlighting social justice issues both contributed to ESG rising to the top of the agenda for investors and policy makers. A record US$700 billion poured into ESG-focused funds worldwide and the MSCI World ESG Leaders Index rose more than 22% compared with the MSCI World’s 15%.

COP26 was another watershed moment where despite the challenges and geopolitical constraints, the world committed to reducing coal usage, limiting deforestation and cutting methane emissions, among others. We know that this process will require vast amounts of financing, both public and private.

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We are convinced that this is the way forward and have been working towards it for several years: our know-how and our position as Europe's leading bank will be put to work for a more sustainable and inclusive economy.

In line with our ambitions to be a world leader in sustainable finance, we are putting our expertise at the forefront of global transitions, for instance in energy and mobility.

By joining the UN Environment's Net-Zero Banking Alliance last April, we committed to accelerating the pace of financing a carbonneutral economy by 2050.

We h a v e b e e n e n g a g e d i n d e v e l o p i n g products, services, metrics and methodologies that have been enabling sustainable change for many years now, and we are developing proprietary tools to measure the impact.

We were one of the first to put in place a robust and reliable sustainability rating methodology, called Clover Rating, which allows clients to identify the level of sustainability of their investments.

In addition to ESG integration into our product selection framework, we have increased the breadth of our offering to enable clients to identify solutions that best match their investment interests. Our product offering builds upon our core sustainable investment strategies such as water scarcity, climate change, environmental impact and sustainable food manufacturing, to include more recent trends in renewable energy, electric vehicles and ecosystem restoration strategies.

From a portfolio perspective, a core and satellite approach can be employed to “hedge” investors’ portfolios against climate change. However, the most comprehensive and effective approach is to employ ESG integration across mainstream investment portfolios. Climate change represents investment return and investment risk, and portfolios should be constructed accordingly.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank Governance and education are two key aspects in mitigating green washing.

In early 2020, we launched ESG Select, our enhanced due diligence framework to curate ESG solutions. Funds on our platform today are curated from most of the industry’s leading ESG players.

Last year, we launched our Sustainable Investments Classifications Framework to help clients easily identify what is in our sustainable investments universe, based on defined criteria and using third-party ESG data. The framework helps clients find products with lower ESG risks, giving them peace of mind. And to help clients better understand the solutions and make smarter decisions, we have introduced Sustainalytics ESG scores in our equity and fixed-income trade notes.

To help client build diversified sustainable portfolios, we have been expanding our sustainable investing offering. For instance, we added sustainable structured products to our product suite (funds, equities, bonds) in 2021.

Alongside the Bank’s Net Zero commitments, we declared net zero commitments to integrate ESG considerations in our Wealth Management advisory process and double our sustainable investing AUM by 2025. We aim to fully embed ESG when discovering client needs, portfolio construction, monitoring and portfolio review.

We ensure our frontline staff are kept abreast of the latest sustainable trends and solutions through a series of training and workshops on sustainable investing.

Andy Chai, Asia CEO, Bank J. Safra Sarasin We are a pioneer with more than 30 years of experience in sustainable investing. As a family-owned entity, sustainability is in our DNA. We have developed our own proprietary sustainability tools and have a large and experienced team that integrates sustainability into each step of the investment process.

We can empower clients to achieve their financial and sustainability goals by providing

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superior sustainable investment solutions as actively managed sustainable investment funds or customised mandates across all asset classes. We believe that sustainability is a long-term force for change. That is why we integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors across our investment solutions, actively engage with companies, and target better outcomes.

Our proprietary and innovative sustainable investment tools help reduce reputational risks and improve the ESG profile of portfolios. We are committed to the Paris Climate Accord and to reporting transparency regarding ESG factors, SDGs and climate change mitigation.

Benjamin Cavalli, head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse Growing public awareness of the economic impact of the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and the wide-scale disruption caused by COVID-19 has accelerated interest in sustainable investing worldwide.

Purpose-driven companies are not only focusing on the sustainability of their ESG and operational processes and policies, but are increasingly exploring the positive impact of their products on society, and the degree to which these products are directly helping achieve societal objectives. Investors are seeking exposure to those companies that are demonstrating this transition. They want to align their portfolios with impactful companies and seek investment returns from fast-growing themes aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), such as education technology, f i n a n c i a l i n c l u s i o n , g r e e n t e c h n o l o g y, and healthcare.

We believe banks and financial institutions are important agents for change. We are committed to playing our part in achieving a more sustainable global economy by engaging with clients, bringing them with us on our journey, and innovating to create sustainable investing solutions that achieve clients’ preferences and goals, alongside our own.

To give investors more insights into investment trends, we hold an annual Supertrends conference, outlining multi-year societal trends aligned with the United Nations’ SDG to provide clients with a simple and transparent framework to prioritise their investments according to their purpose, be it climate action or in healthcare.

Our Sustainable Investment Framework focuses on how we apply ESG criteria and create transparency for clients. We aim to deliver solutions ranging from ESG strategies or exclusions and integration, through to thematic/ impact-aligned and impact investing — all seeking to ‘generate returns sustainably’ and

focus on the market rate of return for the given opportunity. We believe that we can positively affect society and the environment, while generating market-rate or higher returns.

In addition, we have created a bespoke Sustainable Activities Framework that defines the methodology governing eligible activities that qualify as sustainable. Our goal is to deliver a robust and credible framework to define Green, Transition and Social financing, and to encourage clients to consider these factors when engaging with us.

To g e t h e r w i t h a r o b u s t a n d i n n o v a t i v e sustainable product offering, we aim to integrate sustainability reporting into our standard investment reporting, increase transparency on clients’ portfolio sustainability profile, enabling clients to make better-informed investment decisions and helping them align their investments with their personal values.

Tee Fong Seng, CEO Asia-Pacific, Pictet Wealth Management Initial conversations on ESG started with institutional investors, and as such were much based on risk mitigation. With time, the conversation has become less about reducing risk and more about finding the right opportunities for investing in the future we would like to see. As such, private clients are becoming more interested in solutions to climate change, sustainable agriculture, responsible consumption and a circular economy.

All of our discretionary portfolio mandates (DPM) integrate ESG considerations and we are targeting 100% ESG integration by 2022 for DPM and Advisory. Toolkits we use include our proprietary ESG Scorecard to provide a focused view of ESG risks and opportunities for corporate issuers and our ESG Due Diligence Questionnaire to monitor ESG risks and opportunities for our investments in funds. We are planning to launch solutions focusing on positive impact, starting with climate action.

In addition, we are going above and beyond the product shelf, by understanding how ESG characteristics influence our economic forecasts. One of our main focus points for this year and this decade is to quantify and acknowledge the rapidly growing importance that climate change-related issues will have on economies and financial markets dynamics.

We have conceptualised this as the “price of the future”. This concept forms one of the cornerstones of our forecasts as governments and central banks steadily integrate climaterelated issues into their policy making. This involves internalising a range of climate changerelated externalities into production processes and consumption.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée Sustainability really matters at UBP. We are increasingly integrating sustainability factors into our investment decisions to protect our clients’ wealth from new risks and to grow it by tapping into fresh market opportunities. This involves raising awareness of sustainability risk through enhanced client reporting, by adjusting our preferred investment universe and through a range of market-leading sustainable strategies, both liquid and alternative.

Specifically, we have developed a sustainable and impact fund offering, which includes investment opportunities in climate solutions. Our latest launch of a biodiversity restoration strategy should help embrace investments that contribute to the fight against climate change, as both biodiversity and climate are interlinked.

In addition, UBP Asset Management (Europe), our primary management company for UBP’s Luxembourg-domiciled funds, has signed up to the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative. This means that we are committed to reducing the carbon emissions of our funds — which are distributed to private clients in Asia — and encourage investments in climate solutions to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.

Lok Yim, head of Deutsche Bank International Private Bank APAC The push for specificity and granularity vis-à-vis ESG impact is already becoming a key theme in the ESG market and there has been a significant rise in KPI-linked bonds, loans and derivatives.

Of the three components of a typical ESG decision, the focus may be moving from the first two (the economics of the deal, and the framework or taxonomy surrounding it) to the third – measuring and monitoring the impact.

This impact is local but financial firms providing finance or managing it will have to aggregate it at a global level.

Vincent Chui, head of Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia Firstly, we must understand a client’s ESG goals. Once that is done, a combination of approaches ranging from restriction screening, ESG integration, thematic/impact focus and issuer engagement, should help clients build a robust ESG process.

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Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia C o m b i n e d w i t h U N C O P 2 6 ’s expanded effort to achieve net zero, we have seen growing interest from clients in the region for sustainable investing strategies, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clients want to invest in something that is going to have a positive outcome. In the past year, not only have we onboarded more sustainable investing strategies for clients to choose from, we have also expanded our overall service offerings via two acquisitions – OpenInvest and Campbell Global. OpenInvest is a fintech startup that uses data to help advisors and clients build customised portfolios based on specific values. Campbell Global is a leader in forest management and timberland investing and can help with carbon capture.

Last year we hired Dr. Sarah Kapnick, our very own Senior Climate Scientist and Sustainability Strategist, where she will support and advise on our sustainability and climate action efforts.

Since joining, she introduced a framework of the three ‘R’s of climate investing — namely reduce, remove and retrofit. “Reduce” focuses on the reduction of fossil fuel energy demand.

“Remove” refers to removing carbon from the atmosphere and the ocean — either through natural techniques such as tree planting or soil management. “Retrofit” refers to three main areas where infrastructure and technology both play a role: water, agriculture productivity, and the built environment. A lot of the innovation that is happening in this area exists in both early-stage companies in the private markets and in traditional public assets — all of which can be implemented comprehensively in client portfolios.

Jean Chia, CIO and head of Portfolio Management and Research Office, Bank of Singapore.

A recent spate of extreme weather events has highlighted the long-term vulnerabilities of many companies and indeed entire countries to climate risks. Post-COP26, strong political momentum around climate change will catalyse a powerful shift in policy and regulation worldwide to cut carbon emissions across all kinds of economic activity. Stricter regulations on the tracking and disclosure of carbon emissions and climate risk exposure, and more aggressive decarbonisation initiatives, including carbon taxes and emissions trading systems, can be expected in the coming years as the financial ecosystem evolves to meet higher environmental standards. Hence, identifying vulnerabilities to climate-related physical and transition risks will be critical for investors to manage risks within portfolios.

At Bank of Singapore, we call this approach R-E-A-P for short (which stands for a Researchdriven approach; ESG excellence; rigorous Assessment and P for process and performance).

Our research team has produced a rich library of thought leadership pieces on the latest developments and key trends in ESG and sustainable investing, including rapidly emerging risks and opportunities for businesses from fast-evolving policy incentives, regulations and consumer preferences globally. These serve to guide clients on the most important trends in ESG that are gradually reshaping the investment landscape, including the accelerating shift towards decarbonisation of the world economy.

We have been deepening the integration of climate and broader ESG considerations into research recommendations and investment advice to help clients better evaluate both ESG risk and opportunities within their portfolios.

Besides providing MSCI ESG ratings and reports for securities under coverage, our research analysts have highlighted key exposures to material ESG risks and opportunities within their respective sectors. We have set internal targets to ensure that our investment ideas meet minimum environmental, social and governance criteria.

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To establish clear governance, Bank of Singapore set up a Sustainable Investment Committee last year to oversee its sustainable investment frameworks and policies. We offer an ever-expanding shelf of sustainability-themed products and investment solutions to clients based on ratings criteria, evaluation of climatealigned investment processes, ESG factors and thematic opportunities. Bank of Singapore has been the first in Asia to incorporate ESG factors in the assessment of the loan quantum for investment financing.

Jasmine Duan, investment strategist, RBC Wealth Management – Asia Data are crucial and we have been working with ESG data providers such as Sustainalitics and Impact Cubed and will work with more data providers this year. From a portfolio perspective, we can currently generate ESG and climate reporting of a portfolio compared to its benchmark. The ESG data allow us to measure Value at Risk from a climate perspective. Furthermore, we can conduct scenario analysis to understand how global warming can affect each company and analyse how much each company is contributing to the heating of the planet.

We believe that climate change creates opportunities and risk for portfolios, and our portfolio management team does all it can to capture the opportunities and mitigate risks early.

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Cai Xinfa, Ping An Group executive, special assistant to the Bank’s president and head of retail banking, Ping An Bank At present, both China and major overseas economies have proposed carbon neutrality plans. For clients, we differentiate between domestic and overseas investments in the way we eliminate ESG risks.

For overseas investment, some outstanding asset management institutions already consider ESG risks in their investment portfolios. We have cooperation with those institutions in terms of overseas investment to help clients achieve this goal in their overseas investment Domestically, ESG is yet to become a factor/ consideration for asset management institutions in investment. The reason is that China only in 2021 proposed its plan of carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. China’s carbon peaking is about 20-25 years later than that of Europe, the US and Japan, and its carbon neutrality goal is 10 years later than those countries. The plan is more at the macro/policy level now. Regarding ESG consideration, China is still in its infancy compared to the US, Europe and Japan, resulting in a lack of accurate instruments.

Therefore, we mainly help clients achieve this goal by allocating stock products related to new energy, digital economy, environmental protection, or other similar products that match this goal.

Alok Saigal, head, Private Wealth, Edelweiss Wealth Management India, ESG investing is yet to gain traction. Investors would like to be high on ESG through the incidental way and not at the cost of their existing strategy.

Amy Lo, co-head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, head and CEO of UBS Hong Kong, and a Group managing director at UBS Since the pandemic, there has been a transformational growth in clients’ mindset shift, asking advice on how we can help them achieve sustainable growth. When we meet with new institutional clients, it’s more often now than before that they want to know about our ESG approach.

We believe sustainable investments (SI) could shift the risk profile of clients’ investments and assets, but more importantly, we truly believe that finance has a catalytic role to play to help solve some of the biggest challenges in the world.

In a privileged position to lead and shape clients’ long-term investment strategies, we made SI the preferred solution for private clients globally in 2020, meaning when clients come to us we recommend SI over traditional solutions. We have also built a multi-billion 100% SI discretionary portfolio in APAC, with a strong growth in AuM since launch, indicating a rapid growth of appetite in APAC. In addition, we have been supporting companies in the region in their climate strategies by issuing green and sustainable bonds worth more than US$23 billion in 2021, including Asia’s first ever sustainability-linked bond. We focus strongly on the engagement of portfolio managers with the companies they invest in, to actively influence the glide path towards a low-carbon economy, and to improve their performance on other S and G issues and opportunities.

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management At Indosuez, we were early adopters of the ESG theme: it has been one of the top priorities when we interact with clients. We have designed a clear and comprehensive range of solutions, taking into account ESG criteria in the services proposed, its processes for developing and selecting financial products (e.g. directly-held securities, investment funds, structured products, private equity) and its credit policy.

We are convinced the 2020-2030 decade is critical and that it is the duty of financial industry players to propose solutions and encourage clients to support a more sustainable development and a more responsible economy.

Indosuez is stepping up its initiatives in this area.

We have adjusted our offerings to promote more sustainable growth and a more responsible economy through a wide range of ESG products in financing and asset management. We have pooled our strengths to act in line with our raison d'être and encourage clients to share our convictions.

Over the coming years, ESG will surely play a bigger role in the investment world as already evidenced by the vast increase in flows seen over the past year. As a bank, ESG plays an essential part in our client portfolio construction and we have a strong conviction that investors need exposure whether through equities, bonds or other investment solutions.

On the other hand, many investee companies are making a meaningful effort to increase their ESG score and move towards sustainable growth. With themes such as renewable energy and electric mobility taking up more attention, investors are keen on increasing exposure to such themes that enlarge their ESG footprint.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Christina Au-Yeung co-head of Investment Management Services, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia

MORGAN STANLEY PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT ASIA Many countries started 2021 with a strong recovery and moved into mid-cycle transition. Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia took advantage of its renowned research resources to identify opportunities in the anticipated market correction, offering best-in-class fund advisory services, combining a global vision with a deep understanding of Asian UHNWs’ preferences.

Morgan Stanley PWM Asia made multiple right calls in 2021, including the early preference towards European equities and sectors that offer a hedge against inflation, as well as moving up the quality curve in investments to achieve better risk-adjusted returns. Multiple equity funds that were recommended based on these views had been up over 20% YoY as of early November 2021.

Besides the ability to seek alpha in volatility, risk management was key to fund advisory in 2021. Morgan Stanley PWM Asia recommended that investors be selective in credit. In its annual review, the fund advisory team made changes to the funds on its focus list, removing a fund that invested a considerable portion in assets with default risks and replacing that with a similar themed fund with a more prudent administration and investment portfolio, thus avoiding major devaluation risks.

As COVID-19 led people to rethink their life goals, more Asian clients were inspired to create positive environmental and social impact via investments, believing that companies with better environmental, social and governance integration can outperform nonESG funds during and after a crisis. As such views aligned with Morgan Stanley research, the firm significantly expanded its ESG platform to provide a full suite of ESG

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“We are honoured to be named the Best Private Bank – Fund Advisory for 2021. The current year debuted with significant volatility amid political, economical and healthcare uncertainty.

We endeavour to continue to partner with our in-house experts and best-in-class external partners to provide clients with best risk rewards to meet their investment and wealth objectives.”

- Christina Au-Yeung, co-head of Investment Management Services, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia

and sustainable offerings in 2021, ranging from thematic investments to active impact investing funds.

Consequently, the substantial flows into two ESG funds represented a meaningful inflow amongst the overall NNM inflow.

The above factors contributed to a solid business performance in 2021: Morgan Stanley PWM Asia net inflows into fund investments were 2.8 times larger than the previous year, with over 10% invested in ESG funds.

The firm achieved an impressive penetration rate by the end of October 2021, with 89% of PB clients buying funds through the fund advisory team, compared to 51%, an already decent figure, two years ago.

Morgan Stanley PWM Asia is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Fund Advisory for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Seeing through the eye of the investor BNY Mellon Investment Management is one of the world’s largest investment firms, with USD2.3 trillion of assets under management (as at 30 September 2021).

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MC892-11-23-2021(6m)

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Garth Bregman head of Investment Services, Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

BNP PARIBAS WEALTH MANAGEMENT During a year in which Asian markets were shaken by bouts of volatility in both the equity and fixed income markets, BNP Paribas Wealth Management delivered resilient performance to clients while significantly improving its product shelf.

That helped drive a record year for revenue in Asia in 2021 for BNP Paribas WM across cash equity, equity structured products, funds and private equity and real estate (PERE). The bank revelled in a record year in the region in terms of AUM and new subscriptions, across fund and PERE. BNP Paribas WM proved adept at helping clients navigate the volatility that rippled through markets in 2021. The bank downgraded long-dated bonds issued

by China Evergrande to ‘reduce’ in October 2020 before extending this call to all of the crisis-stricken developer’s bonds in August 2021. The bank kept in close communication with clients during this turbulent period and offered alternative recommendations and tailor-made solutions. BNP Paribas was equally early to downgrade Chinese technology names in February 2021 — ahead of a regulatory crackdown — and provided clients with solutions to help recover losses.

Penetration of managed assets into client portfolios maintained their upward trajectory, bolstered by strategic calls on areas such as energy transition and global reflation that yielded strong returns for clients.

The bank demonstrated innovation in new products it could bring to clients. Its 2025 floating-rate fixedmaturity plan, launched in August, proved a hit with the region’s U/HNWIs and provided clients with a source of stable returns, a hedge against interest rate risk and diversification away from China high-yield bonds.

In addition, BNP Paribas WM greatly expanded the scope of its PERE offerings, including the first openended REIT with monthly liquidity; a global growth buyout fund targeting innovative and disruptive companies;

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“Winning this award two years in a row and for the fourth time since 2017 reflects not just our deep, broad and innovative advisory offering, but also an intense focus on ensuring excellent advice to clients at all times.

This is a highly appreciated win; a testament to our diligence and approach in ensuring best-of-class advisory for clients, especially in volatile market conditions. We remain committed to continuing with this trend and will make every effort to support clients in their investment journey. ” - Garth Bregman, head of Investment Services, Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

and an Asia growth buy-out strategy focusing on domestic consumption and exporters in the region.

That commitment to broadening the product shelf was rewarded with a robust rise in client inflows and subscribers to PERE strategies compared to both 2020 and the pre-COVID-19 era in 2019.

BNP Paribas WM has long been recognised as a leader in ESG, and the bank’s investment advisory function burnished its credentials here during the period under review. More than 90% of the universe of equities, ETFs and bonds offered under investment advisory now come with an SRI rating courtesy of BNP Paribas WM’s proprietary Clover system. For funds, this proportion is more than 70%, while the bank’s ESG-themed DPM mandates benefited from strong inflows during the year.

Finally, BNP Paribas WM made strides in digital innovation — such as through the introduction of platforms like Symphony — to increase the efficiency of communication between relationship managers and product specialists.

For these reasons, BNP Paribas WM is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Investment Advisory for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Antoine Bracq executive director, global head of Investment Advisory, Lighthouse Canton

LIGHTHOUSE CANTON If there has ever been an ultimate stress test to Lighthouse Canton’s approach to investment advisory, it has certainly been over the last couple of years.

The Singapore-based independent wealth manager designs portfolios able to withstand downside risk and protect client wealth based on the back of the view that traditional asset classes such as equities and bonds have become highly correlated and no longer provide sufficient diversification, particularly during periods of market stress.

That philosophy has naturally led to a skew in portfolio construction towards alternative assets in private markets, and Lighthouse Canton has excelled in sourcing and presenting such opportunities to clients. Drawing on the strength of its strong industry relationships, the independent wealth advisor was able to deliver to clients exclusive private market opportunities in 2021.

Among these were a strategy in partnership with Ivanhoe Cambridge that invests in life sciences-focused real estate in India, while another provides a platform for investing in early-stage companies in the South Asian country.

Lighthouse Canton’s approach has proven effective at defending clients’ capital amid volatile markets. During the indiscriminate market meltdown of early 2020 and in the subsequent months, a growth-oriented Lighthouse Canton portfolio suffered significantly lower drawdowns than the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI).

Asian Private Banker’s judging panel was impressed by the real-life case studies that Lighthouse Canton shared as proof of the capabilities of its investment advisory business. In one such case, the independent wealth manager re-organised the underperforming investment portfolio of an existing Asian family business client that was heavily tilted towards risky equities and illiquid holdings, as well as being subject to large drawdowns.

After replacing some of the high-risk stock positions with higher quality equities and bonds, and using statistical

“Our investment advisory process is the culmination of hard work and regular client feedback. Over the years, the team has worked closely with clients to understand their needs and various advisory models available globally. Our investment consulting team has pushed the boundaries to integrate our investment philosophy and technological tools to optimise the advisory model.

The Asian Private Banker 2021 Awards for Distinction recognise the innovative approach and the efficacy of our advisory model. The advisory model has served clients well through different market conditions and has helped them achieve their respective investment goals.

I am delighted with the effort and support from all the stakeholders at Lighthouse Canton.

One of our core values is excellence, and to us, it means getting better every day. We commit to holding true to this value and working towards improving and innovating our advisory model.”

- Antoine Bracq, executive director, global head of Investment Advisory, Lighthouse Canton

methods to determine an optimum degree of asset class diversification, Lighthouse Canton was able to boost the portfolio’s risk-adjusted return potential. In its first year, the new-look portfolio was able to deliver a 7% return with significantly less volatility and a lower maximum drawdown.

On the product side, Lighthouse Canton made significant enhancements to its private markets proposition during 2021. In the second quarter, it launched a business offering management of private market investment portfolios intended to address issues related to changing regulations, performance analysis and monitoring of less liquid holdings, while being able to source and recommend potential opportunities.

Lighthouse Canton is the winner of Asian Private Banker’s Best Independent Wealth Manager – Investment Advisory at the 2021 Awards for Distinction.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Emmanuel Triomphe head of ATS (Asia Pacific trading solutions) Sales and Advisory, Credit Suisse

CREDIT SUISSE With stock markets in Hong Kong and mainland China yielding negative returns in 2021, U/HNW clients were more reliant than usual on private bank’s equity advisory specialists to guide them through the stormy waters.

“Receiving this award is a testament to the strength of our best-in-class equity advisory business and our ability to offer innovation solutions, quick execution and regular client updates.

In that regard, one bank stood head and shoulders above the competition in terms of producing tactical ideas in cash equity and structured products that consistently generated profits for clients.

Providing clients with personalised and data-driven products and well-timed market updates — even in challenging conditions — has allowed us to build even closer relationships with key clients, giving us an edge in the market.”

Those ideas translated into strong returns for clients and a robust business performance for Credit Suisse’s equities business in Asia. The bank’s tactical cash equities ideas comfortably outperformed those of the benchmark during the period under consideration, while the ratio of equity structured product ideas that generated positive returns for clients was industryleading, despite volatile markets in Greater China.

Both of those facts helped contribute to a generous revenue boost for Credit Suisse’s cash equity and equity structured products business in Asia, that was above and beyond that recorded by other WM players in the region.

The bank grew and saw robust inflows into its suite of SparkTrackers equity structured product offerings.

The SparkTrackers products — which are linked to a variety of so-called supertrends themes from Asia Online Gaming to Future Foods — were coupled with timely client advice during times of market stress. One profitable idea generated during the period under consideration included advising investors to switch into the Sustainable China theme in order to capitalise on policy tailwinds when Beijing cracked down on the technology sector. Another trade was switching into SparkTrackers’ Post-Pandemic Recovery product in

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-E mmanuel Triomphe, head of ATS (Asia Pacific trading solutions) Sales and Advisory, Credit Suisse

the second quarter to take advantage of an economic bounce in Europe.

In addition, Credit Suisse made strides in terms of deepening collaboration between its wealth management business and investment banking units as means of boosting the equity advisory function in the region.

Examples of this include the introduction of fortnightly deep dives between the equities desk and investment bank analysts covering a range of sectors and regions.

Such communication proved significant during the market sell-off in China in 2021, when the wealth management’s equity advisory desk was frequently briefed by the investment bank’s China technology analyst. Another differentiator for the bank during the year was the depth of access offered to external clients, who were able to directly contact Credit Suisse’s regional team of equity advisory specialists for trade ideas and execution.

For all these reasons, Credit Suisse is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Equity Advisory for 2021.

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The previous 12 months have proved that private banks can draw in significant amounts of net new assets and client accounts as the industry has adapted to widespread travel restriction due to COVID-19. With the potential easing of these restrictions in 2022, new variants aside, to what extent will private banks return to their pre-pandemic methods of sourcing clients and gathering assets?

Tan Siew Meng, regional head, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted private banks to adapt and innovate across all aspects of their business and operations and I do not expect the industry to simply revert to how it was doing things once that disruption recedes. Quite the opposite. This experience has, in fact, accelerated our progress along a path that we were already travelling and to which we are deeply committed.

Throughout, we have been laser-focused on ensuring that we remain as close to our clients as possible, that we have a clear and holistic understanding of their needs and objectives, and that we are providing them with the most optimal advice, insights and solutions. And, as a result, we have continued to see strong net new money inflows driven by new and deepening client relationships.

Where we’ve been unable to meet clients in person, we’ve ensured that we have the digital tools to empower our bankers and clients to engage virtually, and in a convenient and secure manner. That includes enabling new-tobank clients to sign and exchange documents electronically during the onboarding process, and providing a suite of digital solutions that allow our clients to manage their wealth, anytime, anywhere.

As a truly universal bank, we benefit from a strong internal referral pipeline, particularly from Commercial Banking where our relationships with entrepreneurs and families in the region are deep and enduring. We have been increasing our investments in ASEAN markets and onshore in Greater China where wealth creation is so pronounced and where much of our growth will come from. And, as part of a global Group, we are uniquely equipped to connect our clients with international opportunities and help them with their diversification needs.

Tee Fong Seng, CEO AsiaPacific, Pictet Wealth Management The private banking industry in the region, including Pictet Wealth Management Asia, has grown in the past year in spite of the disruptions by COVID-19. No doubt this was partly on the back of market performance, as well as banks riding on

existing client relationships and new bankers onboarding clients they already know without as much a need for face-to-face meetings.

In addition, regulators in Singapore and Hong Kong have been facilitating the implementation of virtual or remote client onboarding, through clear articulation of regulatory expectations and guidelines (for Hong Kong, only for virtual/ remote onboarding of HKID card holder clients).

Singapore has increased the use of non-faceto-face measures with additional controls (e.g. performed liveness checks to detect impersonation) and technologies (such as integrating the use of Myinfo, biometrics technologies, liveness detection technologies, document authenticity verification tools, etc.) as part of customer due diligence.

The reality is the shutdown of cross-border travel did hinder business development at private banks. The biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that while we can still do business without travelling, travelling remains a critical component in the industry’s business development and client acquisition efforts.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank Indeed, despite the disruption brought about by COVID-19, we have seen strong asset growth in 2021 and proven that the nimble adaptation of processes has allowed clients to be onboarded remotely.

As vaccinations are still being rolled out in some parts of the world, a complete return to ‘normal’ remains uncertain for many countries. Even with the potential easing of restrictions for some countries, cross-border business travel will remain limited for now. This would mean that the traditional method of in-person networking will not fully resume, and we will have to rely on a range of complementary approaches, including client referrals, tapping on the bank’s network of clients, new hires and professional social media platforms. Our hiring strategy, which focuses on senior and more experienced RMs, has worked in our favour as new hires bring clients with whom they already have relationships.

The pandemic has heightened the impetus for us to challenge traditional assumptions about the effectiveness of digital engagement with

UHNW/HNW individuals. From our experience last year, we found that clients adapted well to doing some banking activities online or via our SC Private Banking app. They were receptive to alternate ways of engaging with us – via virtual meetings instead of meeting in person and we believe that this hybrid model of client engagement and acquisition will be the way forward. As an example, in January 2022, we had over 7,700 clients register for our Global Market Outlook event which was held virtually.

This is a strong testimony to how UHNW/HNW individuals are moving towards the new norms.

The success of this hybrid model is however dependent on further innovation and our ability to deliver solutions, such as online trading capabilities, across all product ranges to clients.

Benjamin Cavalli, head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse Being a digital-ready bank, we have been well-prepared for all kinds of scenarios, and have continued to serve clients and pursue prospects. In the past two years, our omni-channel approach has helped us deliver consistent client experiences by addressing client needs through the channels of their choice. The adoption rate for our digital private banking (DPB) platform is over 80% and we have seen a surge in the use of high-touch interactions over chat platforms such as WhatsApp and WeChat, and video conferencing solutions like Zoom.

We saw an exceptionally high volume of trades executed digitally, with more than half the equity trades from our private banking clients placed via DPB. We kept the traditional RM channels available, but also invested even more in a hybrid wealth management service model with Direct to Client delivery of content and advice, and digital trading and self-service capabilities.

We believe certain trends will continue. We need to be able to understand and respond to clients’ needs so that we can continue serving them anytime and anywhere. It is imperative that we are able to deliver actionable, timely, personalised content and advice: differentiating thematic investment solutions as well as proactive and predictive trade advice. We must remain compliant and transparent, and yet be able to move fast and adapt in order to cultivate long lasting trust.

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The Final

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Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia Clients in the region have always been digital-savvy, which has only accelerated with COVID-19. Our continued investment in technology, digital tools and automation, has made the transition into the COVID-19 environment quite seamless, including having all-round remote working operations up and running wherever we are.

Pre-pandemic, we automated manual processes for our advisors and support functions; as well as new digital solutions to enable clients to “self-serve”; including DocuSign (first bank to provide this in 2018), WeChat two-way chats and enhanced functions for JPM online portal.

With the pandemic, we have learnt that clients respond well to events that are held across time zones via a hybrid format — and a key takeaway is that in-person meetings are not always necessary. Be that as it may, in-person meetings with clients and prospects are still important and not fully replaceable — COVID-19 has just widened the possibilities of ways to connect with everyone.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée We can finally look forward to a certain resumption of travel in 2022. Our client facing teams will travel as soon as it is safe and possible to do so, and I believe this will be welcomed by clients and prospects alike. At its heart, managing the wealth of a family is an intensely personal relationship that cannot be replaced entirely by technology. Increased travel and meeting in person will help to renew that special bond with existing clients and will also enable us to build new relationships.

At the same time, there will be no reversal in the digitisation that has taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic. This process is well established and will accelerate. The question for wealth managers is how to deploy all the available technology. For UBP, the priority is using technology to enrich client relationships by simplifying client communication, removing pain points and providing RMs with more tools to provide better advice.

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Jason Moo, head Private Banking South East Asia and branch manager Singapore, Bank Julius Baer We are not out of the woods yet, despite the world's governments and medical institutions doing their best to comprehend the implications of this pandemic. How long it will be before we can consider the pandemic over, nobody has a definite answer to that.

The global wealth management landscape will be reshaped by the pandemic, as digital engagement with clients will grow on a larger scale. During the pandemic, many of us found new ways to connect with clients, and with more enhanced digital offerings than before.

Julius Baer globally has invested in digital capabilities — such as remote working infrastructure, video call capabilities, enhanced e-Banking features and digital signature chat applications — as an integral part of providing a personalised client service during the pandemic.

This has created efficiencies not only for our relationship managers, but for the front and backoffice teams as well.

Offering guidance at an accelerated rate will remain a key strategy to enabling sustainable growth for the future, and investors' growing interest in key topics such as ESG, robo-advisory, and crypto-assets present opportunities for new digital platforms to bear innovation. The industry must adapt to these trends, which are requiring more agile and digitally enabled private banks.

August Hatecke, co-head Wealth Management Asia Pacific at UBS Global Wealth Management Recently, we asked clients in a broad APAC survey about their UBS experience and about 90% were satisfied with UBS and 93% were satisfied with their client advisors. These achievements have only been possible on the back of our hybrid approach of high-tech and hightouch, where we vastly improved the frequency and the way in which we interact with clients.

In the past 24 months, our usage of digital platforms in connecting with clients has manifested itself in strong financial results. In 2021, we saw our online trades increase by over 90% YoY, making up 70% of equity trades. This is evident in our 3Q21 results where profit before tax soared 21% YoY and crossed US$1 billion in just nine months, contributing to about 25% to our global profit before tax.

As much as technology is a megatrend now, it will never be able to replace the human touch that we have, especially discussions about wealth structuring and family and succession planning.

Thus, meeting clients in person will still be key to the relationship. This way, we can ensure we deliver a personalised, relevant, on-time and seamless UBS experience to clients, helping them achieve their life goals.

Terence Chow, head, RBC Wealth Management – Asia Regardless of whether we are speaking to clients in person o r r e m o t e l y, R B C We a l t h Management’s focus remains the same – it’s about really taking the time to understand a client’s unique values, needs and goals, sharing our insights and creating strategic wealth plans that reflect what's important to each individual and family.

We’re certainly looking forward to meeting clients in person much more frequently, but there have also been some unexpected benefits to engaging with them virtually. During more normal times, our clients and their families are travelling all over the world and don’t necessarily have time for in-depth, lengthy conversations, especially if it means scheduling in-person meetings. So the ability to take advantage of digital channels and virtual meeting rooms to connect with our clients all over the world is something we’ll definitely retain – especially since our focus and specialty is around Asia’s global families.

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management It is indeed remarkable that the industry has proven to be resilient in asset gathering despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. In a way, it has actually been easier to have extensive contact with clients as many of them have more free time to enjoy since they don’t travel and restrictions on social events are still in place in a lot of cities. Clients are keen on engaging regularly with their bankers to review their portfolio or hear investment ideas. By and large though, we believe that wealth management will remain a highly personal service with clients expecting face-to-face interactions with their bankers.

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Eleven Ying, global market head and Singapore CEO, Heritvest Global The pandemic has changed everyday lives in many ways, including the modes of production, lifestyles, and the core investment and wealth management needs of HNWIs. In addition, the pandemic has affected the economic recovery, as well as supply and demand. Therefore, there will certainly be changes in asset allocation as well.

Moving forward, instead of asking to what extent we can revert to the situation pre-pandemic, we should focus on adapting to this new normal and adjust appropriately.

One of the changes occurring to HNWIs in mainland China is that they have become more concerned about safeguarding their wealth, health and mental well-being.

The volatility in the global market between 2019 to 2021 has shaped the investment style of HNWIs. They are now more focused on stable returns and managing risk. Their asset allocation has become more diversified with smaller allocations towards fixed income, real estate, trust products and principle protected wealth management products. On the other hand, allocations to equity assets increased significantly. (By equity assets, we are referring to public equity funds and private equity funds.)

Cai Xinfa, Ping An Group executive, special assistant to the Bank’s president and head of retail banking, Ping An Bank Ping An Private Bank has applied technology to empower its operations. During the pandemic, HNW clients were able to access a series of efficient and comprehensive financial services of Ping An Private Bank online without leaving their homes. The business was not affected and achieved faster growth instead.

Alok Saigal, head, Private Wealth, Edelweiss Wealth Management The business processes across every industry have changed over the past two years. However, with restrictions waning, I believe it will gradually move back close to its original model in private banking.

The ability to earn and maintain trust is much easier with in-person interactions. Some conversations will become virtual, but they will remain a much smaller fraction.

In the post-COVID era, HNWIs have significantly increased their demand for wealth inheritance, family wealth risk isolation, high-end healthcare management, and plans for retirement and their children's education. Ping An Private Bank is committed to using intelligent technology to gain insight into the personalised needs of HNWIs by making the most of the comprehensive financial and technological advantages of Ping An Group and focusing on products and services for HNWIs, bringing clients a better service experience through a fine-tuned management of client groups.

Due to the pandemic, awareness surrounding risk protection has been strengthened, which has promoted the rise of the demand for insurance.

Uncertainties caused by the pandemic have highlighted the importance of wealth inheritance and strengthened HNWIs’ awareness on family inheritance. HNWIs are equally interested in legal and tax services, and family spirit/culture inheritance. Take our Heritvest Global family office as an example, the number of family trust structures established in the first half of 2020 increased by 100% compared to 2019.

As for the physical and mental well-being of HNWIs, the pandemic has shown us the importance of medical resources. HNWIs are now more willing to spend on additional health services to make up for the inadequacy of existing medical system, such as seeking better medical resources abroad with the help of high-end medical insurance. They also value professional institutions’ ability in medical resource integration and services.

The best way to find new customers and net new money, is to understand the customer’s needs.

Since customer needs are changing, our services need to adapt to the change accordingly.

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The Final

Word 2021 One of the most-repeated views over 2021 was that the ‘60/40’ portfolio is dead, given the ultra-low to negative yields offered in many parts of the sovereign bond markets. From alternatives to commodities to private credit, how are you helping investors to allocate assets in what was traditionally the fixed income part of their portfolios?

Tee Fong Seng, CEO Asia-Pacific, Pictet Wealth Management A classic 60/40 portfolio may be suboptimal at times of higher inflation. From a strategic asset allocation perspective, the expected rise in inflationary pressure, in part because of energytransition policies over the next ten years, is a further argument in favour of endowment-style investing, i.e. the multi-asset approach adopted by endowment funds which include a range of real assets (private equity infrastructure, real estate, commodities and gold) that may protect against inflation.

We believe that alternatives, including real estate and private equity, will continue to grow this year. Super-low interest rates and rising inflation fears mean the yields offered by traditional assets have plummeted, increasing the number of investors willing to exchange some liquidity for the higher returns offered by private investments. In alternatives this year, we like real assets that can cushion against inflation, private equity as a growing asset class with low correlation to listed assets, as well as hedge fund solutions such as M&A, eventdriven, and macro strategies.

Tan Siew Meng, regional head, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking It is imperative for investors to find new portfolio diversifiers among a broader universe of alternative asset classes.

Introducing alternatives such as hedge funds or private assets into a portfolio can deliver better risk-adjusted returns than a portfolio of public markets alone. In 2021, HSBC Global Private Banking concluded another record year in Alternative Investments by raising US$3.2 billion in private client commitments globally, with US$1.9 billion from Asia, an increase from the US$2.3 billion raised in 2020.

Volatility is trending higher and rising rates are limiting the ability of low-yielding bonds to diversify risk. As rates rise, investors need to change tack to stay on track. More companies are choosing to remain private and for longer periods than ever before, providing a growing universe of private market opportunities. Our private market solutions have proven resilient and delivered strong risk-adjusted returns in

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spite of market dislocations. We believe private markets are complementary to clients’ public market holdings, and expect the private market illiquidity premium to keep attracting investors and fundraising momentum to remain strong.

For 2022, we see a broad opportunity set for alternative investments and consider them to be a key portfolio diversifier, providing downside risk protection and uncorrelated returns.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank We have been advising clients to increase allocation to private assets, primarily private credit and private real estate. This is driven by our expectation that yields and returns in these areas are likely to be superior to similar assets in the public markets – for instance, we expect global high-yield bonds to generate returns of just 2.3% a year over the coming 7 years, while for private debt that number is 5.3% with only slightly higher volatility. Of course, these assets have some diversification benefits as well when added to an equity-heavy portfolio, although the hedge is less pure than for G3 government bonds.

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management Whilst the fixed income allocation in our model portfolios has reduced somewhat (ranging from 28% in conservative portfolios to 10% in more dynamic portfolios), it remains an important asset class.

Clients can still achieve stable income through balanced and prudent selection in duration, sectors and regions, spreading the risk within their portfolios. Having said that, as mentioned above, we continue to deploy multi-asset portfolios and advise investors to add gold and private equity in addition to the assets mentioned in the previous question.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée With both nominal and real interest rates at ultra-low levels, traditional fixed income no longer offers the diversification benefits it used to

offer in a conventional 60/40 portfolio. What’s more, one of the key pillars underpinning the strong equity market performance since the global financial crisis of 2008 has been the unconventional monetary policy of quantitative easing. This makes risky assets generally susceptible to increases in interest rates, so that a traditional fixed income allocation becomes somewhat positively correlated to equity markets. This acts to reduce the diversification benefits in a conventional 60/40 portfolio.

During this cycle, we have used innovative ways to bypass the limitations resulting from the conventional 60/40 allocation. That is why we have chosen to be overweight equities at the expense of fixed income, as we find more value in the former. The role of risk reducer — which conventional fixed income used to play in volatile times for equity markets in a 60/40 portfolio — has now been replaced in our portfolios with downside protection derivative strategies and structured products. With volatility at relatively low levels, these strategies offer reasonably cost-effective downside protection. We also use lower beta, alpha generating exposure via alternatives to help mitigate risk in portfolios.

Turning to our fixed income allocation, our reduced exposure to the asset class over the last few years has primarily comprised various sub asset-classes within fixed income which correlate more positively with the business and economic cycle. This includes areas such as high yield, hybrid capital structure securities, senior loans, emerging market debt and convertibles.

With these sub-assets now starting to look expensive, we are increasingly looking to use more alternative long/ short credit strategies within portfolios as a partial substitute. We have tactically entered and then exited sovereign bond market exposure to trade the range which yields have largely moved within. Whenever client investment objectives and risk appetite permit, we advocate the use of private debt and other yield generating private market exposure.

Lok Yim, head of Deutsche Bank International Private Bank APAC We should not assume that a very traditional asset allocation (such as the classic 60/40 equity/bond

The Final

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allocation) will work well. More sophisticated approaches will be needed. Even relatively small changes in interest rates can have major direct and indirect effects on asset classes.

Portfolios need to be built on the assumption that while some interest rates are set to increase, we are not going back to a “normal” situation.

Changed correlations between asset classes mean that traditional portfolios (such as a 60/40 equities/bonds split) cannot be relied on to provide protection in the event of a market reversal. ESG strategies, alternative investments and additional risk controls will all have a role to play in portfolios in 2022.

Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia We see returns of a 60-40 portfolio to remain quite modest in the years ahead, so we believe alternative investing is only going to become more relevant.

For income, we prefer flexible fixed income strategies and also stable income generation, such as core real estate, infrastructure, private lending.

For long term alpha, we want to lean in to megatrends such as healthcare and sustainability through private equities. We still like multi-strategy hedge funds as well, to add diversification to the portfolio.

Andy Chai, Asia CEO, Bank J. Safra Sarasin A still solid, but moderating macro environment and inflation rates that are too high for comfort will lead most developed central banks to increase policy rates in 2022 and beyond, although they will operate on different timelines. Forward markets are already in the process of pricing in the expected path of the respective policy rates over the coming years. This environment is conducive to higher bond yields and flattening pressure on yield curves, mainly in the 5y/30 segment as intermediate maturities will likely underperform. Record low real yields in developed markets should have some upside in 2022 as policy rates go up. However, we expect the upside for bond yields to be less pronounced than in previous cycles.

Arnaud Tellier, CEO Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas WM Fixed income investing has been challenging in an era of zero or negative rates. We remain underweight government bonds, which had negative returns in 2020 and 2021.

However, there are opportunities in fixed income.

For example, clients that are overweight fixed-rate exposure can diversify via floating rate bonds and

leveraged loans. Also, default rates remain low in investment-grade and high-yield credit providing opportunities for incremental yield pick-up. In emerging market bonds, local currency issuance provides a generous yield pick-up as those central banks raised rates aggressively last year ahead of the Fed. Many of these countries are commodityproducing countries and their currencies have rallied this year even as US interest rate hike expectations increased. Finally, selected Asian high-yield issuers offer a healthy yield pick-up after the sell-off in 2021.

unlike in the early stages of the liquidity-driven bull market where the rising tide lifted all boats, we enter a mature stage of the market cycle which is characterised by greater dispersion in returns across asset classes, disparity in regions and sectors within asset classes and winners/ losers within the same industry.

There are many other portfolio diversifiers and no single asset class or investment theme can consistently outperform in all years. The key is really to build a portfolio of solutions and diversify — non-traditional ways to generate income include private credit, private residential REITs.

Alternative investments are becoming an important component of investors’ portfolios.

They have demonstrated an ability to improve the risk-return profile of the traditional 60/40 equity-bond portfolio based on historical returns.

The largest institutional investors in the world and many family offices currently allocate more than 20% of their portfolio to alternatives. The Yale University endowment – which pioneered the aggressive inclusion of alternative investments – has an allocation of over 75% to alternatives.

Lastly, one point to add is rising yields are good news as this year could provide more chances to reinvest at higher yields. We are confident there will be more attractive opportunities in fixed income in the coming 12 months.

Illiquidity, activism by managers and limited access are key features of alternatives that provide additional sources of risk premia and higher expected returns necessary to improve portfolio outcomes as we move through the more challenging phase of the investment cycle.

Benjamin Cavalli, head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse Finding investment strategies to compensate for low investment income from bonds is a difficult task. However, this does not mean that investors necessarily need to take on more risk to achieve their return targets – if suitable, they can and should consider other trade-offs such as liquidity.

Investing in private assets too can provide attractive risk adjusted returns for investors willing to accept more reduced liquidity.

At Bank of Singapore, the ability to source and access investment opportunities in private equity, private credit, hedge funds and real estate through funds and direct investments has helped bolster returns and diversification in client portfolios during the past year. More recently, the focus on helping clients navigate the inflationary environment and the climate change imperative has led us to add longer duration infrastructure assets and climate-linked opportunities to the range of alternative investment solutions available from Bank of Singapore.

Private asset investing can offer an alternative to bond portfolios through vehicles such as private credit, for example, to equities, via PE or access to asset classes such as real estate that are difficult to access otherwise. At Credit Suisse, we have developed a fully diversified offering within this space for clients looking to diversify their traditional public market securities.

Jean Chia, CIO and head of Portfolio Management and Research Office, Bank of Singapore.

Equities and bonds will continue to be core to investment portfolios based on the breadth and depth of the asset classes, which provide relatively liquid and transparent exposure to economies and companies that drive growth. Returns will come from both asset allocation and security selection that combines the twin objectives of generating above market return (alpha) and avoiding risks. Importantly,

Bhaskar Laxminarayan, CIO and head investment management APAC, Bank Julius Baer The fundamental approach to wealth management is portfolio diversification. In that sense the 60/40 is nothing but a traditional approach to the same. What has possibly changed is the mix and composition of the same. There is certainly more space for including alternates in the mix, be it public or private markets, but the bulk of most large wealth is still likely to pay homage to the traditional assets. Good to note that equities and fixed income markets remain the widest and deepest asset class with a larger access than most other investment options.

Jasmine Duan, investment strategist, RBC Wealth Management – Asia We t h i n k o f 60/40 a s a v a s t simplification and an industry shorthand as opposed to a practical way to

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The Final

Word 2021

manage investment portfolios. For example: where does a completely unconstrained emerging markets fixed income strategy fit in a 60/40 model? What about convertible bonds?

What about carbon? The number of portfolio tools and ways to implement has expanded significantly over the years to meet differing investors’ objectives.

a) Long bonds with shorter maturities: In the expectation of rising interest rates, bonds with shorter duration mean that their prices will not decline significantly affected by the rise of market interest rates, because the shorter the duration, the lower the sensitivity of bond values to interest rates. Conservative investors can receive more stable interest and bear smaller bond price losses at the same time.

There’s a clear evolution towards portfolio risk allocation as opposed to asset allocation, which is a more comprehensive and flexible approach to managing the risk in portfolios. With markets vulnerable to both a rates shock and a growth shock, simply allocating 40% to bonds, or more correctly to rates, no longer offers the same level of protection to equities and is therefore less useful as a portfolio tool. To counter this, there are many other portfolio tools available, with the most obvious being using puts for downside protection. However, just like fixed income rates exposure, it’s not something you want to hold at all times, rather puts are just one tool that can be used at different stages in the market cycle to help manage total portfolio risk.

b) Short developed countries’ Treasury bond futures contracts: The global economy has started to recover from the lowest point of the pandemic. Due to the pandemic, interest rates in developed countries have been reduced to a historically low range, which means that as long as the economy rebounds, there will be more room for interest rates to rise. Because the expectation of interest rate increases in developed countries is higher, the price of Treasury bond futures contracts in developed countries is expected to drop.

Shorting such futures contracts will allow investors to profit from these futures discount because of backwardation.

We equally advise clients to look into private credit, which is a relatively new area for some investors. Private credit assets under management have grown to US$1 trillion and continue to edge closer to the US$1.6 trillion US high yield market. Private credit offers good diversification, low correlation to traditional fixed income and attractive yields. Priv ate credit is also less affected by rising rates. Amid a 2022 backdrop of rising short-term rates, private credit will likely offer a significant buffer over publicly traded high yield or leveraged loans. But it is only suitable for clients with an appropriate risk appetite.

c) Long redeemable bonds In the market where the interest rate is expected to rise, investors of redeemable bonds will have a more favourable position.

Investors buy redeemable bonds at a discount or enjoy the "sweetness" of higher interest rate. When the interest rate rises, the issuer is less likely to redeem the bonds (because the borrowing cost is higher). Then the price change of redeemable bonds will be consistent with ordinary bonds. Investors of redeemable bonds still enjoy higher interest income which will be a more stable income for conservative investors.

Eleven Ying, global market head and Singapore CEO, Heritvest Global Fundamentally speaking, this question is about how investments can be made in bonds in an environment where inflation is expected to rise and interest rate to increase.

In terms of asset allocation, a multi asset portfolio is the most effective way for dealing with uncertainties.

With the continuous rise of US bond yields, inflation has once again become the focus of market discussion. Inflation expectations will force central banks to consider gradually raising interest rates from the current low interest rate environment. Although the rise of interest rates will reduce the price of bonds, the anticipated increases in interest rates will likely bring investment opportunities to conservative investors.

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Cai Xinfa, Ping An Group executive, special assistant to the Bank’s president and head of retail banking, Ping An Bank The traditional 60/40 portfolio had been regarded as a classic strategy for a long time, and is still used by many institutions in China.

The reason is that, for investors, the risk-free yields of the Chinese bond markets are still attractive to a certain extent. If investors are ok with some fluctuations, they can choose debenture bonds for allocation in addition to rate securities in the fixed income part of their portfolios, to get higher potential returns. Now

an increasing number of foreign institutional investors are gradually entering the Chinese bond market. They too are attracted by the potential yields. It is good for risk diversification as well.

On the other hand, we are not limited to the 60/40 portfolio. In addition to traditional stocks and bonds assets, many institutions provide clients with cash assets and alternative assets. In terms of strategy, if clients want to replace the investment in traditional fixed-income bond assets, they can choose, based on their needs, domestic or overseas retail credit strategy, quantitative stock neutral strategy, or long-short strategy.

Ping An Private Bank has a professional team of investment consultants and product experts to provide market research and analysis for various types of assets and make recommendations on the allocation ratio of general categories of assets based on the market research and analysis, assisting customer managers to provide personalised solutions for investors and build appropriate and healthy portfolios for clients according to their income expectations, risk tolerance, liquidity requirements, etc.

Alok Saigal, head, Private Wealth, Edelweiss Wealth Management Edelweiss Group is the largest alternative asset manager in India.

So when yields are low, it plays well into the strategies which we have been running over the last decade. Each fund that we raised on the platform over the past few years has more than US$1 billion in these strategies.

Avenues besides high-grade low yield debt — such as InvITs [infrastructure investment trusts], REITS, and bullet payment bonds — provide opportunities to earn a reasonable fixed income return. With yields remaining low, the 60/40 model has moved towards a 75/25 model.

People’s appetite for risk has increased and markets are rewarding risk.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Simon Sims head of Transactional Business, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia

MORGAN STANLEY PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT ASIA Most fixed income advisory desks at private banks across Asia-Pacific endured a torrid 2021. Volatility in the highyield credit, a perennial favourite asset class among U/ HNWIs in the region, was sparked in part by a liquidity crisis among some highly leveraged Chinese developers and left a number of PBs issuing margin calls to clients and de-risking portfolios.

One of the most astute in pinpointing the issues at the private sector Chinese developers, particularly the high yield names, was Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia. The US private bank turned cautious on the Chinese property sector at the start of the year after noticing red flags through Morgan Stanley Research as well as insight from its UHNW entrepreneur clients in China — including rising interest rates for onshore bonds, the issuance of opaque borrowing structures and the fact that policy tightening in the housing sector was not fully reflected in the market.

As 2021 wore on, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia began trimming clients’ leverage and exposure to high-yield names proactively, well ahead of most of peers. As a result, the bank did not see a single default at any issuer on the fixed income advisory desk’s solicitation shelf and managed to help clients mitigate potential loss during the period under consideration.

Because of the increased focus on the real estate sector, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia during the year made several enhancements to better keep pace with developments in China’s property sector. These included discussions with onshore credit specialists to better understand trends and issues on the ground; closer communication

“In fixed income advisory, risk mitigation and loss avoidance is of paramount importance. I am pleased we managed to achieve that in 2021 and will continue to source opportunities and identify risk in the high yield market for clients. ” - Simon Sims, head of Transactional Business, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia

with the investment bank’s fixed income division; and enhanced frequency and types of client alerts.

The bank brought into play its global platform to make alternative recommendations to clients in the region as it steadily reduced the number of Chinese issuers on its solicitation shelf. Those included contingent convertible Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds issued by European financial companies as a means of capitalising on the continent’s economic recovery from COVID-19; US industrial and energy issuances as a way of playing the re-opening trade; and high quality perpetual bonds issued by Hong Kong companies.

While Morgan Stanley PWM Asia was unable to escape the worst of the volatility in high yield bonds, with its highyield revenue for the year falling on an absolute basis, the bank significantly outperformed its peers in terms of top line from the fixed income business in the region.

For these reasons, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Fixed Income Advisory for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Shafali Sachdev head of FX Advisory, Asia, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

BNP PARIBAS WEALTH MANAGEMENT Last year presented a dilemma for the FX advisory desks of private banks across the region. With the coronavirusinduced volatility in currency markets in 2020 largely dissipating in 2021, how were PBs to generate interest in the asset class when markets remained stagnant?

BNP Paribas Wealth Management (BNP Paribas WM) was one bank that found a solution to this conundrum. By responding with a suite of new products and strategies designed to address client portfolio-level needs and to mitigate the steady fall in the volatility, the bank was able to deliver a chunky boost in revenue and trading volumes.

Among the innovative solutions BNP Paribas WM introduced to clients in 2021 were some that took advantage of path dependency and market correlations to develop structures that more than compensated for the decline in volatility, helping clients to hedge more effectively while enhancing profitability on their trades.

In addition, BNP Paribas WM built out its capabilities in commodities trading markets to capitalise on its view that the reflation of the global economy following COVID-19 would lead to increased demand for metals such as copper, nickel, zinc, lead and gold.

During this period, BNP Paribas WM took the opportunity to focus on upskilling its relationship managers and boosting digital capabilities. Following extensive training programmes, RMs and investment counsellors in the region are now able to directly execute and hedge FX trades live without having to call the FX desk. Within seconds, RMs can access live pricings on FX vanilla

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“We are very honoured to be named the Best Private Bank – FX Advisory by Asian Private Banker. In a postpandemic 2021, as FX volatility dropped, we needed to refocus our FX advisory business to ensure that we had a deep understanding of clients’ overall portfolio needs, and to find innovative and impactful answers for these.

Our customised solutions, our investments in real-time technology, the scaling of our advisory services, and our focus on digitisation all meant that we were able to engage with clients in ways that most added value to them. We are grateful to our clients for their enthusiastic response and support for our approach.”

- Shafali Sachdev, head of FX Advisory, Asia, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

options, exotic options and structured products following digital enhancements designed to accommodate a hybrid remote work/work from the office model.

The result of all of these initiatives was an industryleading hit rate in terms of the more than 200 trades proposed to clients in 2021 and a leap in FX trading desk revenues in the region during a time when major currency markets were largely static. Much of that topline growth was driven by the sale of value-added structures, which gained increasing prominence with clients as 2021 wore on.

For the reasons above, BNP Paribas WM is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – FX Advisory for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Stefan Lecher regional head of Investments & Wealth Solutions, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking

HSBC GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKING HSBC GPB’s alternative advisory business benefited from record inflows of US$1.9 billion in Asia in 2021, as robust client interest prompted a more than doubling in capital committed by regional clients to private markets compared with the previous year.

Those flows included a strong contribution from those that were new to the asset class, highlighting HSBC GPB’s success in converting clients to alternative investments for the first time.

That success can in part be attributed to the breadth, quality and performance of HSBC GPB’s alternative platform in the region. More than half of the hedge funds and private markets funds offered to clients during the period under consideration were exclusive to HSBC GPB clients. Four of the 10 largest private equity (PE) players are present on the bank’s alternatives platform, with key launches during 2021 including a flagship North America buyout fund, a diversified portfolio of secondary PE investments and direct co-investments, a healthcare-focused private credit fund, and a USfocused semi-liquid private credit fund.

Specifically, China-focused hedge funds offered by the bank demonstrated strong outperformance versus the major Chinese stock indices during the judging period, a feat all the more impressive considering that 2021 was a year marked by market turbulence sparked by a regulatory crackdown on the technology and sector and a violent sell-off in high-yield bonds.

That outperformance can be at least in part attributed to the rigorous due diligence and selection process HSBC GPB conducts on all hedge funds included on its high conviction list. Out of an initial universe of 7,000 funds, the bank whittles down prospective strategies based on quantitative and qualitative screening and due diligence to a final list of over 30 hedge fund managers in Asia.

“Very pleased to be named once again as Best Private Bank – Alternative Advisory by Asian Private Banker for the third consecutive year.

We have seen stronger demand from clients to use alternatives solutions as they look to safeguard their investment portfolios from market volatility and inflationary concerns. HSBC had another record year in Alternative Investments in private client commitments globally in 2021, in which over half came from Asia.

To meet our valued clients expectations in Alternative Advisory in 2022, HSBC will offer innovative highquality, high-conviction solutions to support key themes while remaining diversified across manager styles and sectors, making the most of HSBC Group’s alternative investments and asset management strengths.”

-S tefan Lecher, regional head of Investments & Wealth Solutions, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking

HSBC GPB has excelled in maintaining close communications with clients during times of market volatility over the last 12 months, made timely recommendations to clients to switch out of high-beta holdings into low-volatility hedge funds to minimise the impact on their portfolios.

Looking at HSBC GPB’s broader alternatives offering, the bank’s high-conviction hedge funds on average experienced smaller drawdowns during sell-offs than both the MSCI World Stock Index and the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index of hedge funds, and with a higher Sharpe ratio.

HSBC Global Private Banking is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Alternative Advisory for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Jyrki Rauhio Regional Head of Credit Advisory, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking

HSBC GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKING Throughout 2021, HSBC Global Private Banking (HSBC GPB) made several critical enhancements to its credit advisory platform in the region that boosted its client proposition, ensured sound risk management and attracted strong net interest income in an era of ultralow rates.

The private bank significantly increased its focus on customised lending solutions relative to the more traditional Lombard loan business during the period under consideration, ranging from single stock financing, to air, aircraft and single hedge fund financing.

Within the customised lending business, HSBC GPB enriched its capabilities to provide financing against single, illiquid stocks and larger transaction sizes, and it bolstered credit offerings to tap the emerging HNW segment of hedge fund founders and private equity general partners.

Landmark deals delivered by HSBC’s team of 21 dedicated credit advisors and 10 credit specialists included US$200 million in single-share financing and US$70 million in pre-delivery financing for a yacht, both in Hong Kong.

During the year, HSBC GPB managed more than 7,000 credit facilities out of its Hong Kong and Singapore offices, maintaining a high rate of penetration among the bank’s clients.

HSBC GPB made extensive efforts to manage risks across its credit portfolio in the region during a year of volatility in markets, including Chinese technology stocks and high-yield bonds. The credit team closely monitored all client relationships on a daily basis, particularly those with high leverage to pinpoint those

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“We are honoured to be named Best Private Bank – Credit Advisory by Asian Private Banker for the second consecutive year, as we continue to strengthen and expand our credit advisory platform with more exclusive, best-in-class and tailored solution that best fit our clients’ needs.

Our credit advisory business has gone from strength to strength with continuous investment into people, we have expanded the team in particular building out our structured lending capabilities to provide bespoke and structured lending products to clients in view of the increasingly complex financial situations they are facing.

In addition, the credit advisory team in Asia has been managing a robust Lombard credit business, with over 7,000 lines of credit made available to majority of our private banking clients to facilitate daily leveraged investment activities last year. We are thankful to our valued clients for their ongoing trust.”

- Jyrki Rauhio, Regional Head of Credit Advisory, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking

with a tight margin situation and encourage an early topup. As a result, HSBC GPB endured no credit loss cases during the period under consideration.

The bank focused on the development of several new propositions that could bear fruit for the credit business in the future, including cross-border property financing, new stock exchanges whose securities will be eligible for Lombard loans, and automation tools to flag portfolio concentration risk.

HSBC Global Private Banking is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Credit Advisory for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Cynthia Lee regional head of Wealth Planning and Advisory, Asia-Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking

HSBC GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKING The pandemic has acted as a catalyst for U/HNW clients to begin or review their wealth planning and succession journey. Riding on the bank’s reputation as a trusted partner in the region, HSBC Global Private Banking has translated this momentum into tangible revenue growth in the said year by delivering a highly customised and holistic roadmap for wealthy families with different needs.

Many banks traditionally considered wealth planning service as a value-add that does not bring in significant revenue for the business, but HSBC Global Private Banking has been excelling in this area for decades and leverages its wealth planning expertise as a conversation starter with prospects, or as a key service offering that could reinforce a trusted, long-term relationship with existing clients.

After integrating into the bank’s global private bank client coverage model in 2020, the wealth planning and advisory teams at HSBC took advantage of the combination of the Wealth and Personal Banking (WPB) platform and collaboration between private banking and corporate banking in 2021 for greater exposure to clients which could be in the earlier stages of wealth creation. The wealth planning and advisory team conducts monthly training and weekly updates with RMs to ensure that they are well aware of the latest wealth planning developments, as well as able to identify and channel clients’ wealth planning demands to the team.

“It is an absolute honour to be named once again as Best Private Bank – Wealth Planning Services by Asian Private Banker for the fourth consecutive year.

The pandemic is still forcing U/HNW clients to pay greater attention to their wealth and succession planning.

As a trusted partner, the Wealth Planning & Advisory team drove tangible revenue growth last year by its proactive engagements with clients — either to initiate a conversation with prospects, to deepen relationships with existing clients or to provide regular updates on the latest wealth planning developments in the market.

Bringing into play our expertise, our deep roots in Asia and our understanding of the region, we will stay close to clients and their families, to provide customised solutions that cater to the needs surrounding all important decisions in their lives.”

- C ynthia Lee, regional head of Wealth Planning and Advisory, Asia-Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking

Building on the back of solid growth in 2020, the bank recorded another year of a double-digit increase in AUM and AUA (assets under administration) in 2021.

With the market volatility sustained throughout the year, the demand for liquidity planning tools resulted in another strong year of growth in the revenue generated on liquidity planning tools.

as well as periods of uncertainties with its clients in the region. This allows the wealth planning and advisory team to accurately identify what keeps clients awake at night, and provide customised solutions that cater to needs surrounding important decisions in life — whether these be decisions of changing or diversitying residency or citizenship, planning for a family business exit, setting up a family office, designing a family governance blueprint, formalising the family’s philanthropic giving framework or establishing trusts to segregate family assets prior to a public listing of the entrepreneur’s business. The judging panel was impressed by the case studies showcased by the bank, which demonstrated the wealth planner’s attention to detail and a good variety of solutions available to meet the above needs.

As a household name established for over 150 years in Hong Kong, HSBC has been through economic cycles

HSBC Global Private Banking is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Wealth Planning Services for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Shilpi Chowdhary Group CEO, Lighthouse Canton

LIGHTHOUSE CANTON While the COVID-19 pandemic has helped to highlight the importance of wealth planning among independent wealth managers and their clients, Lighthouse Canton has gone above and beyond in offering value-added solutions to U/HNWIs in the region.

Aside from the bread-and-butter services of trust structure, succession planning and tax advisory, the Singapore-based group has carved out a space for itself in the market that few peers have been able to match.

Among the capabilities that were presented to the Asian Private Banker judging panel were Lighthouse Canton’s prowess in setting up bespoke funds for clients, as well as its active engagement with regulators in Singapore in order to gain tax exemptions for funds under Section 13 of the Singapore Income Tax Act. In addition, the firm has taken a pro-active stance in identifying opportunities to provide advice to clients, such as during business acquisitions and life events, including divorce and prenuptial agreements.

Those efforts translated into new business during the period under consideration, when Lighthouse Canton acquired nine new clients, of which five were referred by existing ones. Those engagements on the wealth planning side also had the knock-on effect of boosting the overall AUM of the independent wealth manager by a few hundred million US dollars.

The judging panel was particularly impressed by a real-life example shared by Lighthouse Canton that illustrated the breadth of its wealth-planning capabilities.

The client, who held the nationality of one country but whose family were located in two others, was able to consolidate his assets into a Private Trust Company structure in Singapore that itself was held in a Jersey Purpose Trust, eliminating the need for a will for the assets. Lighthouse Canton was able to provide services

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“In today's global landscape, families and businesses have become increasingly multi-national. This requires a holistic approach when we view their holdings, structures, legacy planning, and other related goals. Clients have come to us looking for innovative, effective, and practical solutions to guide their personal and business legacies and plans.

We are honoured that they have chosen to place their trust in us. The awards recognise our dedication and ability in providing clients sound, timely and multijurisdictional advice on their asset holdings and related structures.

Our vision has always been to create value for clients through innovative investment solutions, and we will keep delivering on that promise to them.”

- Shilpi Chowdhary, Group CEO, Lighthouse Canton

including law and regulatory analysis of the clients’ various assets; execution of the structure; transfer of assets and holdings; as well as sourcing an international law firm to advise on the process.

Lighthouse Canton in 2021 demonstrated a dedication to enhancing client knowledge. A series of eBooks produced by the group address key topics and questions on wealth planning-related issues, such as the differences between trusts and foundations, and drafting wills in Singapore versus internationally. The independent wealth manager launched a knowledge centre during the year, providing clients with access to timely investment updates as well as content aimed at increasing engagement with the next generation.

These are the reasons why Lighthouse Canton is the winner of Asian Private Banker’s Best Independent Wealth Manager – Wealth Planning Services for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Sascha Zehnter head External Asset Managers, Credit Suisse Wealth Management Asia Pacific

CREDIT SUISSE Many private banks reinvented their intermediary services in 2021, attracted by the rapid growth of the number of independent asset managers (IAMs) in Asia and the profitability of serving these intermediaries.

Credit Suisse Wealth Management has long recognised the immense potential of Asia’s intermediaries segment and developed deep relationships with key IAMs in the region. The Swiss player maintained its leading position in the said year by focusing its effort and resources on serving the leading IAMs in the region with its unique institutional dual relationship model and by constantly improving its investment product offerings and digital platform capabilities.

In view of the growing demand for structuring collective investment schemes amongst IAMs and to complement the existing Private Label Fund (PLF) offering, the Credit Suisse intermediary service team initiated a partnership with Credit Suisse Investment Banking, with the CS EAM platform acting as a custodian, broker and provider of other banking services for AMCs structured by the Investment Bank. These AMCs are typically held within a Special Purpose Vehicle structure in Credit Suisse Wealth Management and allow EAMs to take advantage of the entire WM suite of products (such as equities, fixed income, funds, FX and derivatives) with simplified access, a more agile setup and a lower investment threshold than structuring a traditional Private Label Fund (PLF).

Drawing on the strength of the bank’s advanced digital platform, a new initiative was launched which aims to provide IAMs with access to an equity structured products

“We are delighted that Credit Suisse has been named Best Private Bank – Intermediary Services for the fourth time. Our vast experience and deep understanding of the market combined with our best-in-class global platform has enabled us to distinctly serve the needs of the EAM industry. We remain fully committed to growing our business partnerships in the region, and to investing in the best digital solutions in the industry.”

-S ascha Zehnter, head External Asset Managers, Credit Suisse Wealth Management Asia Pacific

platform. The bank is in the process of enhancing API connectivity to provide near real-time portfolio data and trading capabilities to IAMs. The bank’s product and services development are well supported by positive client uptake: Credit Suisse achieved significant client business volume growth for Asia from 2019 to 2021 with a high number of new EAMs onboarded and a strong pipeline of prospects despite more competitors entering the segment.

The bank recorded double-digit revenue growth for EAM APAC from 2019 to 2021 and a significant uptick in net new assets (NNA) from both existing and new clients. These solid figures are the best testament from IAM partners that Credit Suisse has maintained its edge as well as its profitability in this sophisticated business segment.

Credit Suisse is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Intermediary Services for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

LH Koh co-head Global Family Offices at UBS GWM APAC

Tommy Leung co-head Global Family Offices at UBS GWM APAC

UBS 2021 marked another year of impressive growth for UBS’ family office services. After the Swiss lender announced its worldwide expansion and increased regionalisation of the Global Family Office (GFO) group in early 2020, the bank grew its Singapore GFO team to capture the business opportunities in the burgeoning Asian family office community.

Building on the bank’s integrated one-bank solution, UBS participated in numerous landmark institutional deals led by Asian top family offices.

The bank has defended its dominating position in APAC equity issuance, having executed the highest number and volume of Hong Kong primary placements in 1H2021. In addition, as of November 2021, UBS had executed more than 10 international convertible bonds and exchangeable bonds (CB/EB) offerings for APAC clients, with multiple transactions completed on a sole or lead basis.

“The Global Family Office client segment in APAC has been experiencing significant growth. UBS is well positioned to capture this growth in the foreseeable future by helping existing clients establish their family offices, opening new client relationships, and supporting both Asian and non-Asian clients to set up their presence in Asia Pacific.”

- LH Koh, co-head Global Family Offices at UBS GWM APAC “Our one-bank approach has clearly distinguished UBS from its peers. We are able to offer exceptional client experience to Asia’s large and sophisticated family office clients, and deliver superior results by bringing together the expertise across our wealth management and investment bank businesses. This recognition by Asian Private Banker is a testimony to the success of our global coverage model.”

- Tommy Leung, co-head Global Family Offices at UBS GWM APAC

UBS has been at the forefront of SPACs on the back of Asian wealthy families’ interest in this market, which has translated into active participation over the past year.

The Swiss giant took part in numerous Asia-intoUS SPAC listings, business combination and/or PIPE placement of US-listed SPACs with Asian companies and had advised in the most number of deals involving Asian companies as targets by November 2021.

coordinate across global teams from both GWM and institutional bank to issue a one-of-its-kind sustainabilitylinked bond, complete a landmark US SPAC issuance followed with an M&A while conducting ongoing fundraising and liability management.

Compared to 2019, UBS GFO more than doubled its institutional transactions volume and grew around 50% in one-bank revenue in 2021.

Bringing together the unique capabilities across wealth management, institutional asset management and investment banking together with deeprooted local knowledge and client network, UBS is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Family Office Services for 2021.

The bank showcased its capability of meeting complex needs of UHNWs in one case where it managed to

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The Final

Word 2021

How impor tant is government s’ suppor t to ensuring family of f ice industr y prospers in the region? What is at the top of your wish list for how governments in Hong Kong and Singapore can support the private wealth management industry's development (e.g. fewer travel restrictions, more tax incentives, review/relax on a particular regulation)?

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank Government support to establishing and growing any part of an industry is crucial. The support — which often comes in the form of regulations and governance framework — facilitates the setting up of the industry, and quite importantly, incentive programmes often help to attract players to enter the market.

The various government agencies have extended their partnership with industry players in several ways. Standard Chartered has collaborated with InvestHK, FSDC and HKMA on holistic marketing and promotion campaigns to facilitate family office setup. InvestHK acts as single point of contact to provide one-stop support services while the SFC recently clarified the licensing requirements for family offices, which should attract more family offices to Hong Kong.

Singapore Singapore has established itself as one of the leading private banking and wealth management centres globally and in Asia.

Singapore is reputed for its strong governance, sound financial regulations, political and economic stability.

To be even more successful at attracting family offices, the Hong Kong authorities may want to consider using tax incentive programmes.

The government has a critical role to play in supporting the growth of the industry, and in particular, providing incentives to attract individuals to invest in Singapore.

The Singapore government has been very supportive and has implemented several initiatives and schemes to welcome potential investors to use Singapore as its base to manage their wealth. Recent examples include the Global Investor Programme (GIP), 13X and 13R schemes to attract funds of non-Singapore investors.

To support the growth of family offices in Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Economic Development Board jointly established the Family Office Development Team (FODT) in 2019 to lead and coordinate initiatives that will enhance Singapore’s position as the Global Family Office Hub in Asia. As at 2020, 400 family offices have been established in Singapore (https://www.edb.gov.sg/en/ourindustries/family-office.html). I would expect that this number has grown further in 2021.

Hong Kong Hong Kong is another established financial hub in Asia and more recently positioned itself as the global offshore RMB Business hub. The Wealth Management Connect scheme aims to unlock wealth potential from the Greater Bay Area and give Hong Kong a competitive advantage towards the private wealth and family office sectors.

The family office business in Hong Kong has flourished in recent years and is one of the vital growth segments in the wealth and asset management industry.

Amy Lo, co-head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, head and CEO of UBS Hong Kong, and a Group managing director at UBS We are seeing a clear rise in the importance of family offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.

According to the latest Hong Kong Private Wealth Management Report by PWMA, 73% of our survey respondents said that attracting more family offices to set up in the city will be an important area for growth in the PWM industry. Against this backdrop, the concerted efforts by governments and regulators in promoting Hong Kong and Singapore as the leading hubs for family offices in Asia are extremely important in creating a family officefriendly ecosystem to enable family offices to operate and thrive in the cities.

The UBS one bank approach allows family office clients to enjoy a full suite of services i n a s e a m l e s s m a n n e r. T h i s a p p r o a c h has been a longstanding differentiator of the bank, demonstrating our enduring commitment to serving family offices within the APAC region and beyond. As such, we have formed the Family Office Competence Centre in Singapore and the UHNW and Family Office Solutions Group in Hong Kong to advise wealthy clients on the steps required to design and implement the most optimal family office structure to realise their visions.

programmes catering to the needs of family offices to be offered to practitioners and university students in preparation of serving these clients.

Arnaud Tellier, CEO Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas WM Indeed the demand for family offices in Asia is increasing as the number of wealthy individuals in the region is rising rapidly. At the same time, the need for sophistication and professional management has risen. This creates opportunities for professionals in Asian financial hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong.

The demand is certainly strong, and a favourable regulatory environment and tax regime are key to the development of the family office industry. Therefore, government support is essential together with close cooperation with the industry.

Singapore has been very active in creating an attractive environment for family offices since 2019. The government and MAS are pushing the overhaul of an industrial, regulatory, tax and immigration policy to support the development of the wealth management industry.

As a result, the number of family offices setting up in Singapore increased significantly.

According to Singapore’s Economic Development Board, the number of family offices in Singapore increased fivefold between 2017 and 2019. As of the end of 2020, there were 400 SFOs in Singapore, and the number continues to grow.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong too is ramping up its efforts in strengthening its position as the regional family office hub. In June 2021, the government’s InvestHK department set up the FamilyOfficeHK Team to provide one-stop free consulting services for family offices. The city has also offered tax incentives benefiting family office businesses.

For Hong Kong in particular, PWMA has been working closely with regulators. A more flexible regulatory regime, and enhanced investor protection measures would be beneficial to Hong Kong’s position as an attractive destination for FOs and boost investor confidence and trust in Hong Kong. On talent, we suggest introducing more tailored training

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Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia While support from the government is one of the more indisputably important factors to help ensure the Family Office industry prospers in the region, it will require industry bodies, academia and institutions working in collaboration to grow the family office industry.

A key driver to support the growth of the overall wealth management ecosystem, including the family office industry, is a talent pool that has equally sustainable growth and so collaboration from an academic, institutional and governmental level will be necessary to address fostering a sustainable talent pipeline in the region.

There’s a reason why both Hong Kong and Singapore are financial and wealth hubs of the region and the world. Both relevant government bodies have already done a lot to promote the wealth management and family office industry and in turn we are seeing increasing interest from our global clients to set up shops here in Asia. We are excited to work with the relevant government bodies and industry players to provide input and collaborate in the long term.

Terence Chow, head, RBC Wealth Management – Asia As a gateway to mainland China, Hong Kong is already a great base for wealth managers to serve multiple generations of wealthy families across Asia. Schemes such as Wealth Management Connect will enable Hong Kong-based banks to support clients in the region by creating more fluidity across the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and further afield.

Top of my wish list would be the gradual and measured expansion of the scheme in terms of size of investment and the products available, to make it an appealing investment opportunity for high-net-worth clients. This would accelerate growth for private banks in the region.

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Tee Fong Seng, CEO Asia-Pacific, Pictet Wealth Management As mentioned above, the initiatives by the governments in Hong Kong and Singapore over the years in incentivizing and strengthening the infrastructure and ecosystem to attract family offices have played an instrumental role in building up the two locations as family office hubs. These efforts will remain critical as an increasing number of family offices around the world are looking to set up in Asia with the main objective of accessing the private market and direct investment opportunities in the region.

Other priorities will be the management and hopefully stabilisation of the COVID pandemic and gradual opening of borders. The ability to travel and engage with clients face-to-face remains one of the key factors for private banks in delivering the best client service and solutions, and growing their business, as well as for the regional private banking industry to be able to develop in the long run.

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management Both Singapore and Hong Kong have been rather forthcoming in welcoming family offices in particular, and wealth management in general. Our expectation is that both cities will continue their supportive stance for the industry and that cooperation and consultation between the governments, the regulators and the industry will develop and improve, as it has over the past years.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée In both Hong Kong and Singapore, we have seen strong support for development of the family office ecosystem and the policy framework for family offices compares favourably to jurisdictions outside of Asia.

Looking at the development of the wealth management industry more generally, we have seen strong support from governments in the critical fields of talent, training and technology, and we will see continued support in these areas. For Hong Kong, the development of the Greater Bay Area presents a generational opportunity for the industry. The authorities have demonstrated their willingness to give more support to this initiative, which will be a critical success factor for Hong Kong in the coming years.

Lok Yim, head of Deutsche Bank International Private Bank APAC Government support in the form of building a strong financial and legal infrastructure allows a clear and transparent tax regime. A stable business environment, a favourable tax environment, plus a pool of professional financial management talent are crucial considerations for us when we expand.

Eleven Ying, global market head and Singapore CEO, Heritvest Global Government’s support for family office is important. Singapore government encourages the wealthy family to set up family office in Singapore with immigration benefits. Travel restriction is less stringent in Singapore than Hong Kong which is another plus for Singapore.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Anton Wong head of Taiwan Market, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

BNP PARIBAS WEALTH MANAGEMENT The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted more conversations within wealthy families about wealth planning and wealth transition. This has allowed the next generation to become more involved in the family’s wealth management and the family’s trusted private banking partner to shine — by navigating market volatilities to execute the family strategies, thereby proving its worth to both the family founders and the next-gens.

In its next-gen strategy, BNP Paribas Wealth Management’s emphasis begins with a strategic proposition that embraces selected next-gen accounts with zero minimum balance requirements and the flexibility to offer bespoke credit lines (some are in fact “clean” lines) to the next-gen. This enables the next-gen to execute their investment or business ideas without having to first seek parental approval.

Such a value proposition expanded and delivered in 2021. With the trust and personal relationship spanning across generations, BNP Paribas WM, in a typical example, secured its relationship with a strategic client where the actual wealth transfer occurred a few years earlier. The bank has stood by the family throughout the transition process, while renewing a multihundred million dollar credit line with the next-gens, restructuring it into a diversified investment portfolio that aligns with the family’s socially responsible investing (SRI) convictions.

The bank has excelled in catering to the investment needs of Asian next-gens by offering hard-to-access direct investment opportunities. In 2021, the bank was able to present to next-gen clients private shares of a high-profile player in virtual reality and 3D game engines related to the metaverse theme, in addition to providing access to private investment opportunities in an aerospace industry leader.

“At BNP Paribas we have been on a very focused journey to build a distinct and compelling offer for Next Generation Asian clients for many years. While the wealth management industry as a whole still primarily answers to the demands of senior generation entrepreneurs, the attention we pay toward younger generations makes us a really special place to build their first few meaningful banking relationships.”

- Anton Wong, head of Taiwan Market, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

dedicated talent training programme where BNP Paribas WM recruits, develops and supports a specific segment of high-quality and sophisticated RMs who have the explicit mandate and corresponding KPIs for developing next-gen relationships.

Recruitment of all front office staff is accompanied by a training programme specifically dealing with navigating the next-gen client landscape. In 2021, 85% of staff had completed their training.

The bank went the extra mile in 2021 by rejigging the internal team structure with a view to facilitating the interaction between bankers of established HNWIs and next-gen bankers.

The vision behind and action in grooming next-gen relationships as the pillar of the private bank’s future overall business has impressed the judging panel and made the argument for naming BNP Paribas Wealth Management the winner in this category for the second year in a row.

BNP Paribas WM is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Next Generation Services in 2021.

The emphasis on serving next-gen clients hinges on a

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

HSBC GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKING It is impossible to improve the client experience without first listening to clients and making visible improvements within a relatively short period of time. During a pandemic, such improvements centre around the digital services offered to clients. In 2021, HSBC Global Private Banking won over clients’ hearts and wallet share by the fine prioritisation and precise execution of its digital services revamp.

“For HSBC Global Private Banking, 2021 was an exceptional year for digital transformation, delivering more solutions, features and products in a single year than most of our competitors would in two or three years. This is a testament to the innovation, dedication and commitment of the team to bring ideas to life, and diligently act upon client feedback to deliver a best-inclass client experience.

By diligently acting upon clients’ feedback, HSBC Global Private Banking in 2021 recorded significant improvements in its net promoter score (NPS) measured in client surveys, which translated into a 14% YoY increase in the number of clients in Hong Kong categorised as promoters.

Our digital strategy is all about creating great client experiences across the whole client journey — including onboarding, trading, communication and notification, insights & research, payments, and client reporting. We have partnered with innovative organisations and drawn on the strength of the HSBC group — driving speed, scale and redefining banking.

Compared to 2020, 7% more surveyed clients were satisfied with the bank’s digital services and 12% more were satisfied with the bank’s advisory services. The positive feedback is more than a nicety, as it translates into quantifiable financial returns — HSBC GPB found that clients who identified as promoters generate 49% more revenue than detractors and are more likely to make client referrals.

We are proud of the client-centric solutions we are delivering that make banking faster and easier (and more accessible during pandemic restrictions) and are confident that these digital capabilities, together with the skilled bankers, will provide the best of both worlds to serve the sophisticated needs of clients.”

This fine result was achieved by enhancements made online and offline throughout the client lifecycle, based on the promoter clients’ preferences. At the onboarding phase, the bank launched the e-signature function in 2021, enabling remote signing, reviewing and submitting of documents — which made account opening faster and easier for both RMs and prospects.

Another priority identified by clients was the lengthy risk disclosure process in trade execution. The bank streamlined this process by replacing verbal disclosures with automated voice messages on GPB Chat to all PB clients and standard product risks disclosure emails for sophisticated investors, markedly improving time-to-market for investors.

In addition to its digital revamp, HSBC GPB transformed its client service model by pairing clients with investment

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- Sharon Oh, COO, Asia, HSBC Global Private Banking

councillors, acting as holistic investment advisors side by side with RMs listening to clients’ needs and devising various investment solutions offered by the bank from different product specialists.

The transformation not only improved the client experience but resulted in the 2021 investment revenue being 50% higher than two years earlier. By closely catering to clients’ needs, the bank recorded a doubledigit YoY increase in client assets and had received US$14 billion NNM by the end of October 2021.

HSBC Global Private Banking is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Client Experience for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Praveen Raina global head of Operations & Technology, Bank of Singapore

BANK OF SINGAPORE With frequent lockdowns and travel restrictions forcing most banker-client interaction online during the pandemic, digital banking services and transformation have become the priority of almost every private bank in Asia. Yet, Bank of Singapore stands out for its ability to strike the right balance between providing innovative digital services and solutions, while remaining true to client service principles. In the new normal, the bank’s use of technology to provide customised and personalised services has helped meet the needs of a more digitally demanding client base globally.

Bank of Singapore embarked on its digital client experience journey to achieve a better client experience and streamline processes across front and back technologies. After revamping its digital channels in February 2020, it has been adding enhancements to improve clients’ digital engagement, which proved particularly effective during the pandemic.

These digital platforms have enabled Bank of Singapore’s wealth management businesses to scale through an open architecture design with modular systems compartmentalised as microservices. Open application programming interfaces (APIs) with partners have enhanced external connectivity and created opportunities for better client access to related products and services.

Essentially, this digital innovation has laid the foundation for a strategic move into the next generation, scalable

“Being awarded Best Private Bank – Digital Innovation & Services by Asian Private Banker is a testament to our team’s commitment to supporting business growth.

Despite the unprecedented circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have delivered innovative, best-in-class technology solutions that enable the bank to provide a seamless client experience.

This award reaffirms our technology vision to be digital to the core and our sustained focus to invest in innovation and services that will redefine the future of wealth management technology.”

- Praveen Raina, global head of Operations & Technology, Bank of Singapore

digital wealth platform, enabling clients to tailor their user experience to suit personal preferences, needs and lifestyles and paving the way to deeper innovation around product hyperpersonalisation and contextualisation.

Data analytics and client behavioural insights have enabled the bank to better understand clients’ preferences and to offer personalised, bespoke services that best meet client needs, even when face-to-face conversations are limited.

Bank of Singapore is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Digital Innovation & Services for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK While the pandemic accelerated digital transformation for most private banks in the region, the growth curves of domestic lenders often differ from international players.

To recognise the effort of domestic banks, Asian Private Banker added this category in 2021.

The severe pandemic situation in India over the last two years has made in-person meetings extremely challenging and has put client onboarding on hold initially since banks weren’t able to conduct KYC verification.

Standing at the forefront of digital transformation, Kotak Mahindra Bank was the first bank in India to launch endto-end digital customer bank account opening with a video-based KYC solution.

The solution not only allowed bank managers to verify original documents and detect fraud with liveliness checks and AI based photo-matching functions, it also significantly reduced the time needed for account opening from four to five days to five to six hours.

Another key business process affected by the pandemic was the collection of physical documentation required for high-value transaction requests which are not permitted to be processed through digital platforms. In order to ensure continuity of business and provide a seamless customer experience, Kotak Mahindra Bank launched a digital signature solution which substantially shortened the time needed to take and verify client orders while reducing the bank’s carbon footprint by going paperless.

Kotak Mahindra Bank caters to both the banking and

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investment needs of clients, which is a rather unique business model only shared by a few of the largest wealth managers in the country. Being part of the banking system, Kotak Wealth Management, Kotak Mahindra Bank's private banking arm, has to comply with both banking and securities market regulations, which require a KYC and risk profile review of all U/HNW clients every two years.

The bank turned the entire process into a self-served solution for clients and — after obtaining the consent of clients — tapped into the country’s Unique Identification numbers, named as "Aadhaar", issued to all residents of India (the Indian equivalent of the US Social Security numbers). This served as a golden data source to verify KYC information.

These changes have been done and overseen by a dedicated digital team which sits within the wealth management business. The objective of the team was not just to digitise, but also to improve the adoption of current platforms by conducting customer and RM surveys to take feedback and understand gaps in the current offerings. Such a well planned digital makeover resulted in an impressive 83% adoption rate of the bank’s digital platform among active clients.

For all these reasons, Kotak Mahindra Bank is the winner of Asian Private Banker’s inaugural Best Domestic Private Bank – Digital Innovation & Services 2021 Award for Distinction.

The Final

Word 2021

The past two years or so have accelerated the rate of technological and digital adoption at private banks across the region, given the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. From hyper-personalisation to digital onboarding and KYC, what will be the biggest focus in terms of tech deployment for the industry in 2022 and where do the gaps lie?

Tan Siew Meng, regional head, Asia Pacific, HSBC Global Private Banking We’re investing significantly in new technology and digitalisation as a core growth enabler. In fact, over the next two years, around US$100 million of investments in Global Private Banking in Asia are earmarked for technology and digital upgrades. And we’ve made major progress. Last year, we reached a number of important milestones that laid the groundwork for our ambitious agenda. We launched Online Trading; GPB Chat, which enables our clients to communicate instantly and securely with their Relationship Management team using their preferred native social media source; a revamped Investments & Re s e a r c h p o r t a l ; a n d a n e - S i g n a t u r e solution which allows new-to-bank clients to onboard by signing, submitting and receiving documents digitally, whether via mobile or desktop.

In 2022, we will continue to focus on building a rich digital ecosystem of integrated digital tools and solutions that complements our hightouch, expert-led service model. Our clients lead busy daily lives and are increasingly regional, international and global in nature, so they want convenience, flexibility, simplicity, and personalisation in the way they interact and bank with us. The experience we are designing is shaped by these expectations.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank The past two years have brought about key behavioural changes in investors, primarily in how they perform banking services. Today, we are seeing more UHNW/ HNW individuals using digital services offered by banks.

This trend has prompted banks to focus more on digitisation of processes, improving access to information and enabling online transaction and trading capabilities. Indeed, hyperpersonalisation will remain important in 2022 in order to offer what clients need. This highlights the importance of using data to better understand clients in order to provide personalised advice and solutions that meet their needs.

At the same time, we recognise the increasing role of the RM in complementing the client experience.

While many basic transactions can be digitally

fulfilled, the human touch remains crucial in private banking, which is a high-touch and personal business. Yet, we see equipping RMs with better digital tools as equally essential to enable RMs to respond quickly to event triggers, share personal ideas with clients and interact easily and effortlessly with clients through the same digital communication channel.

Nonetheless, we see gaps and intense pressures especially coming from large technology companies that are eating into traditional wealth channels with their super apps. Many private banks also have some way to go to fully take advantage of the data they have.

In 2022, I expect to start seeing an expansion on the use of data, possibly in partnership with vendor platforms to draw on the strength of their expertise in better data analysis and AI. There are equally opportunities for partnerships in areas such as insurance, legal and lifestyle services through a digital integration of platforms. Closely related to technology would be the ability for private banks to offer cryptocurrencies as a wealth product, in a safe and trusted way.

August Hatecke, co-head Wealth Management Asia Pacific at UBS Global Wealth Management Hyper-personalisation is key in offerings to private clients today.

The main focus is to make it easy and seamless for clients to interact and bank with us.

We reimagine customer service by delivering a client experience that’s as personal as clients’ needs and ensuring what clients get is relevant to them and on-time so that they can act on opportunities anytime and anywhere. This makes interacting with us simple, seamless and intuitive.

Tech deployment is especially important for our business to stay agile during the pandemic.

In 2021, our monthly online trading revenue increased by 65% YoY (Jan-Oct). We also saw more digital first timers amongst clients.

Take Direct Investment Insights as an example which we launched early last year. It empowers investors with timely, relevant and actionable investment insights. Asia is the first region in the world to launch this innovative offering.

E-Banking website. With just one click away, they get relevant content with actionable trading cases – a pioneer in the industry where we link insights with execution. Clients can also turn on push notifications on their mobiles to get alerts when new relevant content is available.

Terence Chow, head, RBC Wealth Management – Asia This year, private banks will continue to digitise their capabilities to offer integrated access to their products and services at attractive fees, including banking, brokerage and portfolio management.

Firms will prioritise equipping relationship managers with portfolio and advisory tools — such as dashboards, data, client and market insights — that enable them to deliver high quality, personal and impactful advice to clients.

To achieve this, private banks will need to deploy AI and data-driven technologies at scale across the value-chain, as well as partnering with fintechs to take advantage of their utility and advanced solutions, and meet the evolving needs and expectations of clients.

W h i l e C OV I D -19 h a s a c c e l e r a t e d d i g i t a l investment and adoption over the past two years, in some cases this may actually increase the barriers to working with third parties. For example, private banks that rely heavily on global platforms or are carrying larger legacy systems may be less nimble to integrate with fintechs.

Architecture agility is key to facilitating this.

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management Our digital initiatives will grow and develop with diverse experiences to enable Indosuez to develop new products and services that best meet the new expectations of its clients around the world. We always look at the future while not losing sight of our fundamental customer-centric approach: 100% human and 100% digital.

The paradox is that those tools were first deployed in retail banking due to the sheer breadth and scale of retail customers. We have to admit that many wealth managers are still playing catch up and 2022 will be an important year for us to fill this gap.

Clients are now able to receive insights based on their financial interests together with related trading cases on UBS Mobile Banking app and

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The Final

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Benjamin Cavalli, head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse We see client experience and data capabilities as two critical drivers of success in the new age. Our technology and platform strategy puts the client at the centre, with three key objectives: ‘empower’, ‘connect’, and ‘protect’.

With ‘empower’, we ask: “what does wealth advice look like in the age of Amazon and Netflix?” We have been making significant investments to be able to deliver directto-client, actionable and holistic advice, investment ideas, and product content, in a relevant, personalised and timely manner. Due to the ever-growing amount and complexity of content and data, the only way to approach this challenge is with technology. For example, using advanced data analytics and machine learning models, we can draw on the strength of our house view content, research insights, and market events, to deliver personalised and actionable investment ideas, sustainability offerings, take-profit/loss alerts, portfolio quality reports, etc, to clients. We believe the real opportunity is in being able to offer a flexible hybrid service model, responding to clients’ needs and preferences.

I n t e r m s o f ‘ c o n n e c t ’, d i g i t a l i s a t i o n h a s become the new normal for clients and for us. To service clients anytime and anywhere, we keep investing in an omni-channel client experience. CS Chat and Digital Private Bank (DPB) are our award-winning digital solutions, used by clients and RMs for secure messaging and collaboration, portfolio and investment insights, research, news, trading, and other self-service capabilities. Furthermore, we are investing in building connectivity with the wider ecosystem, to respond to clients’ needs, and secure our ability to accelerate organic and non-organic opportunities with intermediaries, new onshore markets, new client segments, and develop new monetisation opportunities.

As an organisation, we actively participate in the wealth ecosystem through partnerships and collaborations.

With ‘protect’, we consider compliance as a competitive advantage. Transparency and adherence to regulation are crucial to building lasting relationships and trust with clients. We are investing in advanced RegTech capabilities across AML, KYC, customer protection, and regulatory and tax reporting. These capabilities allow us to adapt quickly to changing regulations and focus on improving client and

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RM experience. One notable example for us is iSAP, a technology platform we designed and built in-house to address the complex set of investment suitability processes across the client lifecycle — from the client’s investment profile, through to product due diligence, suitability and cross-border rules, pricing, as well as the automation of personalised pretrade risk disclosures. With such technology, we are able to move and adapt faster, with full transparency across the advisory journey. We can now unlock exciting opportunities, such as direct-to-client advisory at scale, combining content with advanced analytics and predictive machine learning models to offer personalised insights and actionable advice to clients – while being fully transparent and compliant.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée Current discussions around technology are much more nuanced and granular than before. Five years ago, technology’s impact on wealth management was presented as a zero-sum game, as a binary choice between digital or human engagement. The debate has clearly moved on and we certainly see a strong possibility for a hybrid model, where technology enables richer conversations with clients. It may encompass digital communication channels, involve AI-assisted investment insights and asset allocation, or simply be about removing some of the pain factors in the way that clients interact with us. Precisely targeted technology can have a transformative impact on client relationships by supporting, rather than removing, the role of the relationship manager.

For the mass affluent wealth business, there's a much stronger argument for a lighter touch but higher volume model, which is largely digitally driven. However, for us as a pure private bank player, human interaction remains the core which we build around, so we see technology as an enabler, boosting our proposition, enhancing our investment capabilities and improving delivery.

Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia J.P. Morgan recently announced that its technology budget will increase by 26% to US$12 billion this year. Our private bank’s core technological and digital adoption focuses on enhancing the client and advisor experience.

The advisor experience will be key to digital adoption — especially as we plan to onboard a lot of new advisors. By having controls in place, we need to ensure all of these new advisors can seamlessly address clients’ needs and assimilate as our private bank business scales.

The next major focus for the industry is to apply AI / machine learning to strengthen clients and internal processes. That could mean a lot of things – but one key example could be how a private bank can mobilise some of the industry and market data points they already capture to drive better automation and a more personalised customer experience.

With all this said, private banks serving UHNWIs remain a high touch business but the more we can eliminate cumbersome administrative work for our advisors, the more value we can ultimately bring to clients.

The Final

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Andreas Zingg, COO APAC, Bank Julius Baer The digital landscape is evolving fast and we need to ensure our digital strategy enables us to stay competitive. As such, technology remains a key strategic long-term driver and enabler of sustainable business growth for Julius Baer.

We are focused on staying ahead of the game in adapting to the changing client, regulatory and competitive environment and to enhance our innovation capabilities. Our bank established its innovation lab ‘Launchpad’ in Singapore in the second half of 2021, to develop new propositions as well as explore cutting edge technologies to deliver maximum value to clients.

Looking ahead, we expect the digital transformation of the private banking industry to continue at an accelerated pace in 2022. At Julius Baer, the aim is to accelerate our transformation journey through constant innovation. As such, we will enhance our digital client touchpoints, interaction and transaction capabilities, sustainable investments, digital assets, and next generation offerings, while investing in state-of-the art systems for our RMs and clients.

As priorities across the industry tend to be similar, we believe it is the execution that will make the difference, especially in terms of user experience, design and integration aspects.

Therefore, one of our major investments remains in our people — to provide purpose, shared values, and growth opportunities i n a n i n s p i r i n g , c o l l a b o r a t i v e, a n d a g i l e work environment.

Cai Xinfa, Ping An Group executive, special assistant to the Bank’s president and head of retail banking, Ping An Bank In 2022, in terms of tech deployment, the private bank will focus on: improvement of digitalisation and intelligence of personalised investment advisory services for clients, as well as big data intelligent monitoring of investment risks in the underlying assets.

Alok Saigal, head, Private Wealth, Edelweiss Wealth Management The entire banking ecosystem needs technology investments.

However, mid-office needs more focused investments. Over the past two years, many improvements have happened in reporting, client onboarding, and investment analysis.

Therefore, we think the mid-office function, which provides the actual customer experience, needs more technology advancements.

AI, big data, cloud computing and other technological means will be introduced into the building of a digital system platform that enables the integration of online and offline service channels, as well as the collaborative services of account managers and experts in different fields, making wealth management instruments and asset allocation more diverse and scientific, to meet the personalised needs of clients.

The challenge is to build a platform for smooth integration and collaboration, as well as more automated and intelligent capabilities for product R&D, investment portfolio, valuation management, investment advice, etc.

In addition, given the continuous impact of the pandemic on the global economy, it is necessary to pay more attention to the risk control of financial investment in underlying assets. Through the use of big data, public opinion analysis and other technological means, risks can be monitored and avoided in real time. There is still much room for improvement in the digitalisation and intelligence aspects of the industry.

While investment tools allow bankers and advisors to produce more systematic and regular investment ideas for clients, such investment tools are, as their name suggests, merely tools.

Such tools are only successful if used by the right expert. We expect our wealth managers and advisors to personalise and tailor every proposal to their clients’ needs and to engage regularly with the clients on the suitability and performance of each investment proposal. That is the wealth management differential.

On KYC / onboarding tools, we are still assessing these tools and the idea to integrate such tools. Every client is more than a number and it is important that we assess new clients personally with a human touch. We will ensure that should we choose to adopt such digital KYC / onboarding tools, they will be in line with the potential guidelines and respective frameworks of local regulators.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

CREDIT SUISSE 2021 was challenging for investments in the Greater China region, with regulatory clampdowns and looming bond defaults creating great uncertainty for investors.

Credit Suisse Wealth Management weathered the storm in the Hong Kong market with its three pillars in client servicing: timely and relevant advice, breadth and depth of the bank’s product platform and innovative approach to catering to clients’ needs. Combined with the precise execution of their business strategies, the bank managed to achieve strong growth in both the top line and bottom line in 2021.

Credit Suisse has been serving the Hong Kong market since 1969 and currently banks 60% of the top 20 billionaires on the Forbes Hong Kong list. The Hong Kong team is known for a well-rounded service offering of compelling investment solutions, timely advisory services and, in particular, innovative bespoke integrated individual-corporate solutions that bring into play the Credit Suisse platform.

In a year of strong market volatility, the bank received a referral from an existing UHNW client to a new UHNW client keen on setting up with Credit Suisse a leveraged advisory mandate. (The bank has a similar arrangement with the portfolio owned by the existing client.) This case study demonstrated the excellent RM-client relationship.

The bank was able to serve the new client with efficient account opening and investment execution processes, while providing a flexible and efficient fee structure.

Led by experienced market group heads, the Hong Kong team shared multiple case studies on customised solution offerings showing a deep understanding of clients’ needs and capable of delivering multi-hundred

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Eddy Sze Rickie Chan market group head Hong Kong, market group head Hong Kong, Credit Suisse Wealth Management Credit Suisse Wealth Management Asia Pacific Asia Pacific

“We are truly honoured to win the Best Private Bank – Hong Kong award for the second time. This award is testament to the resilience of our wealth management franchise in the region despite a challenging environment last year.

Our team continued to make progress by delivering best-in-class banking solutions and bringing into play innovative digital tools to stay connected with clients.

We will continue to work in close partnership with clients across both their private and corporate needs to help them achieve their financial goals.”

- Rickie Chan and Eddy Sze, market group heads Hong Kong, Credit Suisse Wealth Management Asia Pacific

million dollar transactions in a timely manner. This cannot be done without close collaboration between the wealth management team and the investment bankers, as well as other product specialists in the broader banking group.

While managing to keep the cost-efficiency ratio at the lower end, the bank in 2021 invested in talents, recruited a substantial number of RMs. To expand its presence in Hong Kong, the bank opted for a combination of organic growth and selective external senior hires, in addition to grooming a strong cohort of younger next-gen bankers with in-depth client service expertise.

Credit Suisse is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Hong Kong for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Ranjit Khanna CEO, Singapore & head of Wealth Management South Asia, Union Bancaire Privée

UNION BANCAIRE PRIVEE 2021 was a year of achievements for UBP with remarkable developments across multiple investment products. The broad-based improvements benefited the profitability and AUM in Singapore and built a strong foundation for the growth of the bank’s business in the region.

UBP has translated its segregated multi-asset class DPM portfolios into a transparent, UCITS-compliant unitised fund vehicle, providing a much more convenient channel for clients to invest in the bank’s conviction. The fund was launched in January 2021, blessed by a year full of investment volatility where clients turned their focus on discretionary investments: in less than 12 months, clients invested over US$330 million in this new offering and UBP now has a 34% DPM penetration rate amongst its clients in Singapore, marking an astonishing 207% YoY increase in DPM penetration.

Besides unitising the bank’s DPM offering, UBP catered to clients’ strong interest in private investments: its Private Markets Group (PMG), set up in 2015, offers clients access to exclusive transactions at a threshold as low as US$250,000 and a selection of eight to 10 broad-ranging opportunities offered per year, including high-profile names in aerospace manufacturing, as well as ownerships of art intellectual property (IP) rights and sports clubs. The PMG team currently manages over US$300 million in Singapore, with net inflows growing 114% YoY. Following the firm’s technology revamp last year, UBP refocused on its FX advisory platform offering and

“We are extremely pleased to have received the Best Private Bank – Singapore award from Asian Private Banker for the third consecutive year. This recognition highlights our people’s dedication, resilience, and ongoing commitment to excellence to create long-term value for clients with differentiated and innovative solutions.”

- Ranjit Khanna, CEO, Singapore & head of Wealth Management South Asia, Union Bancaire Privée

introduced a new FX margining system which offers enhanced margining and netting to sophisticated investors. This development attracted new business from FX-savvy clients and allowed the bank to double its client base on its FX platform in less than a year.

The combination of all these developments allowed the bank to achieve a double-digit expansion of its revenue and a close to 20% increase in AUM, with a double-digit annualised growth in net new assets in Singapore.

The judging panel was impressed by the Swiss pureplay’s progress in building a well rounded product portfolio in Asia, which accurately identified U/HNWI investment appetite in Singapore and expanded the bank’s AUM and DPM book in the process.

For the third consecutive year, UBP is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Singapore.

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The Final

Word 2021 Sourcing talent in the region’s private bank industr y is becoming tougher than ever, pushing up hiring costs across the region. How can private banks ensure they have adequate access to the talented relationship managers and other front-line staff over the coming years? What is the key to attracting the right candidates?

Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia Recruiting, training and retaining talent are always top of mind and remain a priority. Our Private Bank has more than 2,500 advisors globally, and it is indisputably our \greatest asset.

We believe that world-class people build worldclass, global businesses and that diversity, equity and inclusion is of utmost importance as we know that diverse companies outperform less diverse ones. The right talent is instrumental in building purpose, value and culture to thrive in the long term. And fostering the right culture in turn helps attract the right people.

For us the key to attracting talent is to be creative on who you hire – expanding the scope of the talent pipeline where appropriate.

Our external non-lateral hires and our internal mobility programme have been successful.

Internal Mobility can be demonstrated through our bench of senior advisors on the leadership team, many of whom have garnered decades of experience at J.P. Morgan but are actually relatively new to their roles or to the private banking arm. We believe this allows everyone to offer fresh, different perspectives. Many of our senior advisors are home-grown talents, introduced via our structured global analyst and associate programmes.

Overall at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, we have first-class teams supporting our advisors and clients, including global and regional Solutions specialists, dedicated lending and wealth advisory teams – which altogether make our Integrated Team Model.

We have hired talent without prior private banking background, such as accountants, lawyers, corporate and investment bankers, or financial journalists. With the right training, their own unique networks, and our integrated team model operations, many of these external non-lateral hires have been able to contribute effectively.

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Jason Moo, head Private Banking South East Asia and branch manager Singapore, Bank Julius Baer Our culture, values and purpose are what set us apart from the competition.

The value we place on the adaptability and resilience of our staff is higher than ever, and we attract talent with the merit to sustain the highest standards of service for clients.

Terence Chow, head, RBC Wealth Management – Asia In terms of sourcing talent, we firmly believe that culture and leadership are the key ingredients to attracting the best. However, private banks are not just competing with each other for talented professionals, we’re actually competing with many other industries as well – notably the technology sector.

Whether the trends of the 'new normal' will continue to shift or slightly revert in the coming years, the capabilities we have had to explore — such as working from home or taking on flexible work hours within our teams — have been crucial to overcoming the many obstacles borne from the pandemic, and it is likely that incoming talent will be familiar with modern systems of business made possible by sophisticated remote access. It is important that we stay relevant not only to clients, but for staff to be able to engage appropriately with all our partners and stakeholders in a contemporary way.

As the saying goes: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. This is why at RBC, we spend a lot of time talking about our purpose – helping clients thrive and communities prosper. This is central to everything we do, how we conduct ourselves, how we treat each other and our clients and how we work together. Diversity of thought, of skills, and backgrounds – these are all integral components to building and sustaining a culture that attracts the best talent.

A core part of the digitalisation journey has been in training staff to be fluent in their virtual client engagement skills, and we will invest in digital in 2022 and beyond with online training programmes for our relationship managers, helping them practise and improve their client experience through technology. We have enhanced our learning and development initiatives and employees are encouraged to take advantage of our online development courses.

We firmly believe that that the professional and personal competence of our team is at the very heart of our success, and paramount to the ongoing employability of our staff. It remains vitally important for us to equip and empower employees so that they may continuously learn, innovate, and grow in order to stay competitive and drive sustainable performance.

And it’s not just about external hires. I would point out the importance of growing and developing talent internally by offering fulfilling careers through challenging roles, formal and informal learning opportunities, and an inclusive culture in which all colleagues can thrive.

Our leadership team lives and breathes these core tenets every day and everyone at RBC is passionate, not just about what we deliver for our clients, colleagues and communities, but also how we deliver it.

The Final

Word 2021

Vincent Chui, head of Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia The core of UHNW private banking always lies with the relationship with clients. RMs hold the key to such relationships whilst giving free rein to their respective firm’s core competencies to deliver excellence. We focus on RMs from top-tier firms who have established and strong client relationships, but who will benefit from our robust integrated platform to fully monetise such relationships and provide holistic services to their key clients, across the spectrum of individual, family and business needs.

Through such new RMs, we are eager to expand and deepen the client reach of Morgan Stanley in Asia, particularly in the Greater China region, growing our client franchise as well as our institutional securities and wealth management businesses.

Tee Fong Seng, CEO AsiaPacific, Pictet Wealth Management For Pictet, it is critical that we attract the right candidates who can thrive on our distinctive platform and business model. We have been steadily growing our RM base by around 50% in the past three years and our AUM base by 40% in the past two years.

Pictet has an established and distinct brand as a private partnership for 216 years with a combination of members of the founding families and outsiders jointly running the firm in a consensual model. We believe our governance model is the best and most client-focused way to run an investment firm.

Unencumbered by shareholder pressure, we can take a long-term view and our goal is never to maximise the short term at the expense of clients or the future.

Pictet has always placed a premium not just on being a stable and financially strong firm, but also an investment leader for its clients, across both wealth and asset management franchises. Our wealth management business in Asia has an industry high penetration rate of over 50% of our assets in managed solutions including discretionary and advisory mandates and funds, so the focus of Pictet and of our RMs is to bring Pictet’s investment leadership, our asset allocation expertise and investment performance to clients, especially the UHNW segments and family offices, delivering highquality assets and revenues for the firm.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée At UBP, we are actively looking for a small number of highly skilled individuals, those with advisory experience of between 10 and 20 years, who want to work with a bank where they can manage clients and, if they wish, build a team.

People who join us are often drawn to a bank that takes a balanced commercial approach, that is less hierarchical, and where they can really build durable relationships with clients.

There is a trend too towards some lateral hiring from other parts of the finance industry. We are not only interviewing private bankers, but also talking to corporate bankers who are attracted to the wealth management industry, as well as investment consultants, investment advisors, specialists who have worked in family offices and those with experience in the growing segment of private markets. There is a broad talent pool and there is no shortage of candidates — quite the opposite actually — but it just comes down to finding the right fit for both parties.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank In general, it is imperative that the bank has a convincing employee value proposition that resonates with potential new hires. People are attracted by strong people leaders and this has helped us in the past few months to attract talents, who might otherwise have chosen a different employer.

Transparent performance management is key where the RM knows what the expected metrics and targets are (e.g. revenues, net new money), how they will be assessed and what reward they can expect based on their performance.

One-dimensional hiring from private banks won’t be sufficient and must be complemented with a bench of own talent. It is therefore essential for a private bank to build its own talent via development opportunities, provide growth opportunities within the platform and reskilling opportunities for individuals with adjacent skills to become a banker.

At Standard Chartered, affluent RMs have the opportunity to grow across the affluent continuum into Private Banking. Our investment in the Wealth Academy, launched in partnership with INSEAD, is testimony to our commitment to our people’s career development and charting a progressive career path for them.

Additionally, our network, franchise and brand name recognition in certain markets stand us in good stead against other more established private banks.

Lok Yim, head of Deutsche Bank International Private Bank APAC A customised solution is one of our priorities when serving clients.

Therefore, we pay great attention to whether candidates can provide tailored advice on top of their experience and knowledge.

With our business spanning different regions around the world, we believe that the opportunity to serve clients in the region with the exposure to our global footprint around the globe is one factor that looks attractive to candidates.

It is not easy to hire talented relationship managers and front-line staff, but it is important for us to complement our existing talent base and help us scale up in targeted footprint markets.

At Deutsche Bank, we are committed to building a talent pool and training our talents from front to back to support the industry growth.

Andy Chai, Asia CEO, Bank J. Safra Sarasin To capture the growing business opportunities, hiring high quality bankers and retaining our talents are of utmost importance. Compared t o e a r l y 2020, w e a r e p l e a s e d t h a t w e have almost doubled the private banker headcounts as of today.

Since the private banking industry is still growing, there is a shortage of private bankers. The war for talent is beyond anything we faced in the past. Hence, some private banks have started looking at hiring RMs from the premier banking segment. We would assess their investment knowledge and understanding of the industry before taking them on board and transforming them into private bankers.

J. Safra Sarasin is well capitalised with a strong balance sheet and has over 180 years of history.

We are one of the few family owned private banks with a global footprint. Our in-depth insights to the industry, entrepreneurial mindset, open architecture, comprehensive credit offering and robust product platform enable us to support our talents to thrive and to support clients to build their legacy with us. We have a simple organisational structure and open culture which allow staff to work effectively and efficiently, and our private bankers to focus on building their own business.

We are pleased that our brand attracts new talent in all regions. It is only on the back of our culture and versatile platform that we can ensure different types of bankers succeed and clients entrust us with wealth management services.

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The Final

Word 2021

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management There are quite a few factors at play with regards to talent attraction and retention.

Given the wave of consolidation that has taken place in the sector since 2009, stability and commitment to the region is an important element in attracting the right people.

While remuneration ranks as one of the most important factors, there are many other factors that are equally important when retaining talents. At Indosuez, this includes the importance of giving staff ownership of their projects, providing them with a certain level of independence and entrepreneurial spirit.

Eleven Ying, global market head and Singapore CEO, Heritvest Global Experienced RMs with solid client bases are scarce resources. Every bank or firm is competing for them. However, experienced relationship managers hesitate to move from their current banks to another bank/ firm nowadays. They are afraid of losing clients as Private Bank’s KYC and account opening processes are extremely complicated and can take months.

The bank or firm should know its own strength and weakness, which determines its target customer segment(s). The bank or the firm can then focus on finding the right RMs who have access to the target customer segment(s).

This doesn’t mean we can only source RMs from private banks. The bank or firm could hire less experienced RMs and provide them with adequate support from experienced ICs and product specialists — including both investment products and credit solution.

Having a robust onboarding process and support will be a key factor in attracting experienced RMs.

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Cai Xinfa, Ping An Group executive, special assistant to the Bank’s president and head of retail banking, Ping An Bank Ping An Private Bank strengthens its team building through "improvement of internal capabilities" and "introduction of external experts", attracting outstanding private banking financial advisors, VIP wealth managers and other top talents.

In addition, the Private Bank Wealth Management Trainee Program was launched in the second half of 2021 with on-campus recruitment.

A comprehensive training system allows young people to access high-quality growth opportunities and prepare future professional wealth managers.

Candidates are attracted to Ping An Private Bank for a number of reasons: - company strength: Ping An’s private banking business has grown rapidly, and it will become a first-tier private bank in mainland China with diverse products and benefits for financial advisors to better meet the needs of their clients.

- technology empowerment and support: Ping An Private Bank launched a technology platform called the Intelligent Business Platform, which integrates investment advisory and wealth manager empowerment, and can track market fluctuations and client holdings in real-time. This means that each PB has the systematic analysis, investment research, and service capabilities of the entire organisation behind them to respond to the clients’ needs.

- talent philosophy and performance assessment mechanism: Ping An Private Bank is the first in the industry to propose the performance assessment indicator of the health of a client’s wealth. Through the adjustment of the assessment mechanism, we focus more on the upkeep of user value, instead of solely relying on performance. We focus on customer experience and the correct value system of talents to give new talents a new growth concept and ample room for growth.

Alok Saigal, head, Private Wealth, Edelweiss Wealth Management Relationship managers are akin to individual entrepreneurs running their own practice. To attract such entrepreneurs we need to provide a platform that enhances their offering, empowers them, and invests in their long-term development.

With every private bank trying to hire, they need to breed a fresh pool of talent in the industry catering to new funds that are being created. We need to look at pools of talent from alternative sources such as corporate banking, investment banking, management consulting, etc.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Jason Moo head Private Banking South East Asia and branch manager Singapore, Bank Julius Baer

BANK JULIUS BAER Julius Baer demonstrated a formidable performance in 2021 in terms of asset gathering and platform development.

Figures shared with Asian Private Banker’s judging panel during the awards process showed that net new money in the year during the period under review for Julius Baer in South Asia exceeded any comparable figure provided in other submissions for this category.

The bank has enjoyed an acceleration in asset gathering in Southeast Asia and other emerging parts of the region. Its joint venture in Thailand, SCB Julius Baer, has made impressive strides since it was established in 2019. Revenue and clients more than doubled yearon-year during the period under consideration for the Awards for Distinction, while assets more than tripled.

At least part of the lender’s success in attracting net new money and growing assets in 2021 can be attributed to the not only robust, but consistent performance of its discretionary mandates. Julius Baer, which has among the highest penetration rates for these solutions in the region, delivered strong double-digit returns on an absolute basis during the year across mandates ranging from Global Excellence, to Equity Sustainability, and Next Generation, even as volatility hit broader markets.

Among the enhancements to Julius Baer’s platform during 2021 was its alternatives offering, which was able to provide clients with access to leading technology unicorns and private equity funds, often exclusively. Deals that the bank managed to secure on behalf of clients included a US videogames company heavily involved in the development of the metaverse megatrend, as well as a well-known space exploration group. Data seen by the judging panel indicated that these opportunities were heavily subscribed by Julius Baer clients.

“With Asia as our second home market and a strategic focus of the bank, we are absolutely delighted to be named Best Private Bank – South Asia. This award speaks to the strength of our franchise in the region, the trust that clients place in us and the tireless efforts of our dedicated team.

As we look ahead, we remain strongly committed to expanding our franchise, enhancing our capabilities and providing clients with private banking excellence.”

- Jason Moo, head Private Banking South East Asia and branch manager Singapore, Bank Julius Baer

Julius Baer is seeking to position technology at the heart of its future offerings in South Asia. In 2021, the lender set up its Innovation Lab, Launchpad, in Singapore, becoming the first pure-play private bank to do so in the region, alongside a clearly defined three-year roadmap for enhancing its already best-in-class client experience.

Among the digital services coming out of Launchpad are the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to generate investment ideas for RMs and ICs via the bank’s Vantage platform that can then be shared with clients.

The quickened trajectory of Julius Baer in the region comes two years after the bank hired Jason Moo to run its operations in the region.

The bank also peppered its year with the several notable banker hires in key markets. In June 2021, Julius Baer appointed Rahul Malhotra to lead its Global India business as head of both onshore and offshore teams. In November, Kevin Tay rejoined the Swiss bank as head of its wealth planning team in Singapore.

For all of these reasons, Bank Julius Baer is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – South Asia for 2021.

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The Final

Word 2021

In the course of 2021, many private banks have grown their business presence in Singapore as the industry saw more business opportunities among Greater China clients in the city state. What is your private bank's business split across Hong Kong and Singapore now compared to 12 months ago? Do you think the shift of gravity in business across Hong Kong and Singapore has reached an equilibrium?

August Hatecke, co-head Wealth Management Asia Pacific at UBS Global Wealth Management For our wealth management business in Asia, we are strategic in each market in a specific way. Both Hong Kong and Singapore are important wealth management hubs for UBS in APAC. UBS has a strong foothold in Singapore. What we aim to achieve is an ecosystem headquartered in Singapore that facilities strategic connectivity and is the window to the world for Southeast Asia.

Singapore sits in the heart of ASEAN, which is an attractive growth spot emerging with the rise of tech unicorns. We saw this major opportunity and launched UBS Tech Connect SEA to be the global bridge for these technopreneurs.

F o r H o n g Ko n g , t h e r e a r e t r e m e n d o u s opportunities in the Greater Bay Area in developing into an engine for high-quality development, with a focus on technology and finance. It will offer a unique opportunity for Hong Kong, strengthening its role as a gateway to connect China and the rest of the world.

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management At Indosuez, we firmly believe in the successful growth of both Singapore and Hong Kong as offshore wealth centres, each with its unique characteristics.

Both have access to a deep talent pool, highlyregarded regulators underpinned by solid regulations. Hong Kong will remain the main hub for access to mainland clients and Greater China clients in general, whereas Singapore has the edge in terms of South Asia and Southeast Asia clients.

In relation to Greater China clients, we have indeed seen an increase from this region who are either relocating to Singapore or considering opening a family office here.

This trend will certainly increase the weighting of this geographical segment in Singaporebased banks.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée Our focus is on providing clients with flexible solutions to meet their investment and jurisdictional requirements. Growth rates in both the Hong Kong and Singapore businesses were robust in

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2021 and we see strong demand from clients for both locations. As we look to the future, we expect this trend to continue.

Lok Yim, head of Deutsche Bank International Private Bank APAC We have dual hubs in Singapore and Hong Kong. While Greater China remains a focal point for expansion, Southeast Asia market is buoyant and presents tremendous opportunities.

Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia Both Singapore and Hong Kong are extremely important financial hubs for Asia and they have different value propositions. We advise our clients to allocate their capital according to what each locations’ advantages can offer in terms of their business and personal needs.

Asia’s overall growth will mean that both Hong Kong and Singapore will grow at a fast rate and this symbiotic relationship will allow both hubs to remain competitive on a global scale.

We keep expanding our presence in both Hong Kong and Singapore, demonstrated by key hires made over the past year. In the long term, both markets are well poised for growth, and will remain extremely important to the world.

Terence Chow, head, RBC Wealth Management – Asia With our strategy anchored around our specialty of servicing Asia’s global families, we really don’t spend too much time thinking about our split of business between Hong Kong and Singapore. We have a great team of relationship managers in Hong Kong and Singapore, and booking centres in both locations, all working in concert to service eight core markets across Asia. Our clients’ global needs often bring other parts of RBC’s international capabilities into the broader solution, and this is where we spend most of our time – providing global solutions for these global families.

Tee Fong Seng, CEO Asia-Pacific, Pictet Wealth Management For Pictet Wealth Management, our business is distributed equally between Hong Kong and Singapore – in terms of human resources, RMs, and volume of business. To a large extent, private banking is about having the adeptness and agility

to manage and capitalise on opportunities rather than achieving an equilibrium.

At Pictet Wealth Management Asia, we monitor and follow the developments, capitalise on market opportunities and are focusing on Greater China market in both our Hong Kong and Singapore locations. In the past year we expanded our front office, by onboarding teams of experienced relationship managers in both locations who are experts in covering Greater China markets and clients.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank Both Hong Kong and Singapore are still growing where the Greater China business is concerned, although we do see a strong trend of Greater China clients preferring Singapore as an investment location and booking centre.

Many Chinese clients have a nexus in Singapore, be it business, family or more personal reasons.

Singapore is a neutral and safe haven location and is one of the most preferred wealth management hubs in the region. Besides a strong governance framework and a pro-business approach, the Singapore government’s incentive programmes such as the 13R/13X family office incentive schemes and the Singapore Global Investor Programme (GIP) are attractive considerations for these clients as they, together with their families, can potentially get residency in Singapore.

Cai Xinfa, Ping An Group executive, special assistant to the Bank’s president and head of retail banking, Ping An Bank In August 2021, Ping An Bank Hong Kong Branch was approved by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to conduct private wealth management business. In November, we obtained the Type 1 and 4 licences issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), which expanded the scope of private wealth management services.

We can provide HNW clients with one-stop solutions for public and private funds, Hong Kong and US stocks, insurance, offshore trusts, etc., to meet the all-around and diversified needs of clients and also strengthen the international development of Ping An Bank's retail and private banking wealth management business.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Ernest Chan head of Distribution, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia

MORGAN STANLEY PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT ASIA Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia has been named the best private bank in North Asia by achieving tremendous business growth, despite the region’s business environment being hampered by pandemic-related restrictions and a regulatory crackdown in 2021.

Running a private banking business in the said year hinged on risk management — which spans from a vigilant balance sheet management, careful regulatory monitoring to a flexible yet safe COVID travel policy.

Morgan Stanley PWM Asia excelled in all these categories by making the right call at the right time in fixed income investments, new hires in ramping up its compliance force and paying extra attention to adjusting its internal travelling and quarantine policies between Hong Kong and China to keep in touch with clients while ensuring the health safety of bankers and office staff.

The ability to keep close with clients despite the pandemic has paid off: Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia enjoyed the highest double-digit revenue and AUM YoY growth among all contestants in this category, with the majority of income sourced from transaction-based fees. What particularly impressed the judging panel is the fact that the strong increase in revenue was achieved while the bank was expanding its business — which necessitated additional operational expenses — thereby demonstrating the ability of management to spur the productivity of the existing team while reinvesting the profit into growing the business as a whole.

2021 marked the first year of Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia’s three-year expansion plan in transforming its business into “PWM 2.0”. Despite a

“North Asia, China in particular, is the largest and highest-growth client segment in private banking. It is also the region where we, as a firm, have the best opportunities and competence to deliver our integrated platform to UHNW clients. We will help clients manage risk and opportunities in 2022, in a likely uncertain market environment. ” -E rnest Chan, head of Distribution, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia

year of strong volatility, especially in Hong Kong and China markets, the bank made significant progress by completing over 50% of targets set to be accomplished in three years, and by weathering market fluctuations through sophisticated risk management which shielded the bank from bond defaults and multiple market drawdowns.

The ability to avoid downside and capture alpha stemmed from the backbone of the American bank’s renowned investment research capabilities — its Asia research team covers 1,600 stocks (whereas the MSCI Asia index had 1,472 constituents by the end of 2021). Its investment advisory service not only draws on the strength of its institutional-level resources but also involves cross-divisional collaboration with its Institutional Equity Division (IED), research, fixed income and other departments.

Morgan Stanley PWM Asia is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank — North Asia for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Wang Yanrong general manager Private Banking Department, China Merchants Bank

CHINA MERCHANTS BANK PRIVATE BANKING A well established private bank with a history of more than 14 years in onshore China, China Merchants Bank Private Banking has been a pioneer in the development of the domestic private banking industry in the country.

For the bank, 2021 was a breakthrough year: it advanced on its digitalisation journey and built a novel business proposition to serve Chinese HNW/UHNWIs’ personal as well as enterprise needs.

China’s private banking clientele landscape has shifted rapidly in the last decade. According to China Merchants Bank Private Banking’s wealth report in 2021 — developed in collaboration with consulting firm Bain & Company — the new generation of wealth owners is dominated by young entrepreneurs operating in China’s new economy. The bank was quick to identify the shifting demographics and the ensuing changes in client needs and focused on providing “integrated financial as well as non-financial services”.

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“In the future, the strategic positioning of China Merchants Bank Private Banking as the engine of big wealth management's value cycle chain will receive an upgrade: the original focus of providing HNW clients with bespoke services will be transformed into providing private bank customers and the enterprises behind them with a unified service — combining investment banking, commercial banking, private banking and fintech.

By continuing to create value for the customer, the bank is determined to become the best wealth manager, the best business partner and the best succession planner and wealth preserver of China's HNWIs.” -W ang Yanrong, general manager Private Banking Department, China Merchants Bank

CMB Private Banking uses a detailed segmentation strategy for its client base according to their background and banking needs: they range from traditional entrepreneurs, founders of technology firms, second generations, investment-savvy clients, to C-suite professionals. Matching the different needs, the bank offers personalised networking opportunities to clients — from youth conferences, business forums, to inheritance events. In addition, it works with China Merchants Bank’s corporate finance and investment banking business to meet the financing needs of the clients’ businesses.

the programme, while client AUM in cloud services has soared more than 80.5%. Its digital banking app, “Private Banking Exclusive Zone 3.0”, had a monthly active user number of more than 64,000, as of the end of 3Q21.

The bank is in the process of exploring a cross-border model, together with its international business arms CMB International, CMB Wing Lung Bank, CMB Hong Kong Branch, and the private banking business in Hong Kong. It is targeting an open product platform that allows for global investment transactions and a wide range of products, offering advice to clients’ financial assets through a global lens.

Since the launch in 2018 of its “exclusive cloud services”, an online banking platform, China Merchants Bank Private Banking has had 26,322 qualified clients under

For the seventh consecutive year, China Merchants Bank Private Banking has been named Asian Private Banker’s Best Domestic Private Bank – China.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Wang Jingbo co-founder and chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Noah Holdings Limited

NOAH HOLDINGS LIMITED The vision of progressively shifting away from nonstandard private credit products since 2019 has distinguished Noah from its peers and set up a robust, resilient foundation for the firm to establish a wealth management business model that is both compliant and lucrative for many years to come.

Noah embarked on the journey of standardisation transformation in the third quarter of 2019 and hasn’t distributed any single-counterparty private credit products since. In 2021, the firm completed the redemption of RMB32 billion private credit assets in AUM and became the first player in the market to complete the transformation of its offering to NAVbased products.

While the size of client assets managed by the firm slightly decreased due to redemption of non-standardised assets, Noah managed to not only compensate the loss of transaction revenue from private credit products sales with increased sales of standardized NAV products, including secondary market equity funds and mutual funds.

In a year of tremendous market volatility in China, Noah proved its worth to clients with a diverse, openarchitecture product platform. The wealth manager worked with 18 out of the top 20 mutual funds in China and accumulated roughly RMB90 billion in assets under administration (AUA) in secondary market equity products after the transformation. Noah has been one of the exclusive channels for HNW clients to access many of the top-tier financial products and manages clients’ assets in private equity, real estate, public securities and multi-strategies portfolio via Gopher, Noah’s asset management subsidiary.

To improve operational efficiency and client experience, Noah started its digital transformation

“It is a great honour for us to have Asian Private Banker's recognition on Noah's achievements in 2021. We are very grateful for the long-term trust and support our clients, partners and shareholders place in Noah, which helped us through an unprecedented year of challenges, changes, and ultimately, success.

We are also proud to have a team as resilient and adaptable as Noah’s.

As a practitioner of China’s growing wealth management industry, we thrive to stay client-centric, and continue to provide comprehensive services to clients. Noah is committed to enhance its capabilities in asset allocation advisory, research and investment, as well as product screening, so as to create long-term value for clients.

Thanks, APB, for the award again! ” - Wang Jingbo, co-founder and chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Noah Holdings Limited

early on, systematically upgrading the firm’s technology infrastructure to precisely label and match clients, products and relationship managers. Based on this development, the firm launched the Noah Triangle service model in 2021, surrounding each client with an account representative, a number of solution representatives and a fulfilment representative, which is a relatively junior RM that attends to day-to-day inquiries of the client. This model not only improves the client experience but also allows emerging RM talents to work side by side with an experienced partner in catering to real clients needs.

As a leading wealth manager with a vision to build a successful and sustainable business in Asia’s fastestgrowing market, Noah Holdings is Asian Private Banker’s Best Independent Wealth Manager – China for 2021.

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The last 12 months have been volatile for investors in China, from the meltdown in the high-yield bond sector to regulatory actions targeting sectors such as technology. How are you advising clients to invest in the world’s second-biggest economy in 2022?

Benjamin Cavalli, head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse We believe it is still too early to buy into China. We need to see concrete signs of economic recovery and policy easing. While the 50 bp RRR cut in December does represent an easing of the stringent policy stance thus far, a genuine recovery in Chinese risk assets will require a fairly forceful policy shift.

It remains to be seen if this will indeed come to pass. The risk from pressure in the property sector has not yet abated. At the same time, regulatory pressure in the technology sector remains. We have yet to see forward earnings revised higher, regulatory uncertainty fade, or funds flows return. As such, we do not think that there is sufficient justification to increase our exposure to Chinese equities at this juncture.

We prefer investing into Sustainable China and other policy-supported sectors while maintaining a strategic allocation in Chinese equities.

Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia China is going through a number of structural changes to re-orient its growth drivers, away from the housing market and energy-intensive traditional manufacturing sectors, to higher value-add manufacturing, innovation, as well as domestic consumption.

We believe the long term direction is right and therefore are still constructive on the long term return opportunities in the economy.

Nonetheless, it will take time for the economy, businesses and financial markets to adjust.

In 2022, we are positive on China Onshore equities (A-shares) as they provide more exposure to policy beneficiaries – including electric vehicle battery supply chains, clean tech supply chains, semiconductor localisation companies, as well as small and medium enterprises that benefit from common prosperity-related support. We are constructive too on China government bonds but more cautious on high-yield USD credit bonds We remain cautious on China Offshore until we see more tangible signs of regulatory clarity that will help ease sentiment for offshore equities.

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Bhaskar Laxminarayan, CIO and head investment management APAC, Bank Julius Baer China is in transition mode, and that has certain implications for investors. While the long term opportunity remains valid due to the scale and importance of China in world economics, the near term is likely to be clouded by policy stances. While there are signs of moderation the winners from the new growth trajectory in China will need some more investor buy-in time.

Jean Chia, CIO and head of Portfolio Management and Research Office, Bank of Singapore.

For China, we prefer the onshore A-share market vs. offshore counterparts and advocate a strategy to buy beneficiaries of policy support (such as renewables, new energy, technology and domestic consumption), as well as companies that are cash flow generators and dividend payers.

Andy Chai, Asia CEO, Bank J. Safra Sarasin We believe the Chinese government will try to avoid a hard landing for the economy, hence we expect it to deliver a timely monetary and fiscal stimulus. An increase in local government borrowing to support public sector investment projects, such as on infrastructure, or a reduction in the minimum reserve rate for commercial banks are two options that we think are likely to be deployed to stimulate the economy. This would pave the way for a rebound in the Chinese economy from 2Q22 onwards.

In general, we expect China’s economic recovery next year to provide some tailwind to emerging markets fixed-income assets. Credit spreads of hard currency and corporate bonds are in line with the long-term average. At the same time, foreign trade positions are robust in most emerging markets and we expect low default rates for corporate bonds. The largest risk factor in 2022 is a rapid rise in US sovereign bond yields. Government bonds in local currency are likely to remain volatile in the months ahead.

Inflation in emerging markets will keep rising. We expect central banks to implement further rate hikes of significant magnitude. While this should initially impair the performance of local currency

bonds, they will become more attractive in the medium term thanks to their higher yields. As a result, we expect very favourable entry points this year.

Jasmine Duan, investment strategist, RBC Wealth Management – Asia China’s zero tolerance policy on COVID-19, declining property prices, and a flexible and accommodative central bank all make it stand out compared to its Western counterparts.

While valuations have become attractive, we would hold off adding to China equities at the moment due to challenges such as the COVID-19 resurgence, economic slowdown and property market turmoil. An opportunity to add to exposure is likely to emerge after 1Q22, when investors see signs that this round of COVID-19 outbreak starts to recede and have clearer ideas of the earnings impact from the recent macro and policy changes. When the time comes, we would look at opportunities benefiting from secular growth trends, such as electric vehicles, renewables and advanced manufacturing.

We believe the volatility in the China bond market that began in 2021 — due to efforts to step up economic reforms — has a high likelihood of persisting into 2022 as policies remain uncertain across sectors. In particular, the deleveraging campaign focusing on the property sector has led to high volatility as it makes it difficult for corporates to refinance. Unlike previous cycles where the government fine-tuned its policies after a gradual correction started, to date, it has refused to alter its policy. The delay in policy response from the government has added volatility to China’s property developers as refinancing is becoming increasingly difficult. Until the government softens its policy significantly, we believe investors should exercise caution when investing in the sector.

Arnaud Tellier, CEO Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas WM C h i n a’s e c o n o m y w e a ke n e d i n 2021 d u e t o t h e p r o p e r t y downturn, COVID-19 restrictions affecting consumption growth, and regulatory pressures. The Central Economic Work Council and Politburo meetings in December 2021 have resulted in a focus on economic stability

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rather than deleveraging. It was stated that fiscal policy will be front-loaded, including boosting infrastructure spending.

China is the only major economy loosening not tightening policy in 2022. The government has pledged to cut fees and taxes with a combination of fiscal incentives.

We are starting to see signs of outperformance in the most beaten down areas — such as Hong Kong equities +5% year-to-date and the MSCI China.

We are positive on China equities thanks to the improving credit impulse, which historically has been positive for markets. We prefer domestic China A-shares as they would benefit directly from policy easing.

Hong Kong-listed Chinese equities could see a gradual reversion to the mean this year because of their cheap valuations and below average global investor positioning. However, a sustained rally would require more positive catalysts, such as more clarity on regulations and upward earnings revisions. A hawkish Fed and stronger dollar could be headwinds and trigger volatility in the short-term.

The biggest uncertainty is pandemic-related restrictions amid China’s “zero-COVID” policy.

Positive surprises would be larger-than-expected policy loosening, signs of regulatory relaxation on the internet and property sectors and a resolution on the ADR de-listing issue.

Opportunities will develop for broader China and Hong Kong equities and selected China bonds where yields are attractive for patient investors in 2022, especially as valuations remain alluring.

We believe that the policy will finally turn into a positive catalyst.

Meanwhile, the Chinese economy is going through considerable upheaval, with overleveraged real-estate companies in the line of fire. How things play out will have implications for domestic consumption. In effect, construction and property-related activity account for a high share of Chinese GDP (close to 30% by some estimates) and housing-related spending for a much bigger percentage of personal consumption than in the US. We believe the sector is ‘too big to fail’, with signs the authorities are subtly moving to contain damage from the problems incurred at the most highly indebted real-estate companies.

Noticeable, however, has been the lack of contagion from Chinese high-yield to the rest of the Asian credit complex. We continue to see potential for superior risk-adjusted returns in Asian credit, particularly investment-grade.

Amy Lo, co-head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, head and CEO of UBS Hong Kong, and a Group managing director at UBS We work with clients to unlock their needs and opportunities and provide advice on the big things that we should look at. We believe China looks poised to rebound in 2022 and see mid-teen percentage [growth] for MSCI China upside in the year ahead.

China’s GDP is likely to grow by around 5% in 2022, with a soft 1H22 and a strong 2H22. Policy easing could step up in view of the downward economic pressure.

With China pledging to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2060, as well as emphasising green and low-carbon development in its 14th Five-Year Plan, we are seeing meaningful trends in the Greater China capital markets.

Tee Fong Seng, CEO AsiaPacific, Pictet Wealth Management Two of our investment themes for 2022 directly take this into account:

Structurally, our preferred themes are: global greentech, for which China and Japan are major players; Asia healthtech, especially telemedicine; 5G, where we see upside even after 2021’s strength; and the “ABCs of tech” (artificial intelligence, big data, cybersecurity), which we think will be one of the key tech themes in the years ahead.

China and the US are treading increasingly divergent paths, whether in terms of monetary policy, COVID-19 or growth momentum.

Depending on how the growth slowdown pans out in China, we see potential for the relative performance of ASEAN equities to improve.

Undervalued ASEAN stocks represent a way to play attempts to revive Chinese growth, without taking direct exposure to China. In the longer run, they could benefit from the ongoing relocation of major manufacturing facilities away from China.

The next big thing for this decade will be the “ABCs of technologies”. For example, we expect the market for AI services and hardware to grow 20% a year to reach US$90 billion by 2025 or even exceed our expectations. Meanwhile, big data is said now to be the new oil. We expect the global data universe to expand more than tenfold from 2020 to 2030. Finally, we expect the cybersecurity industry to grow by an average of 10% during 2020–25, thanks to steadily higher enterprise IT spending and the stronger adoption of cloud security.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank We have to balance the rising structural importance of the Chinese economy and asset markets for investors on the one hand and the outlook for slower economic growth and increased regulatory scrutiny on the other. The way we achieve this balance is by looking for areas of the economy which are key priorities for the authorities and by trying to identify areas/sectors that are attractively priced.

In the current environment, we have two key themes relating to China.

First, our China Common Prosperity theme focuses on three major areas of the economy that we expect to benefit from significant tailwinds – high tech manufacturing, green energy and the internet consumer tech sector.

The second key area of focus is Asia highyield bonds. While regulatory scrutiny of the property sector is likely here to stay, we believe the risks are now priced in and we see elevated yields as attractive to long-term investors.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée We believe that China’s ongoing economic transformation will offer long-term opportunities for international investors. We anticipate that improved visibility on the regulatory front and targeted policy support will provide some cyclical reprieve for Chinese asset classes in 2022. We are therefore advising clients to remain highly selective, with a preference for onshore over offshore equities.

Investors can benefit too from exposure to a number of sectors and themes that will be of strategic importance under the “Common Prosperity” drive. These include core innovation and companies with a focus on domestic consumption, a view we have held since the announcement of the 14th Five-Year Plan in March 2021.

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Lok Yim, head of Deutsche Bank International Private Bank APAC China appears to be doubling down on the zero-Covid strategy and this will remain the case until after the Winter Olympics in Beijing. This could present a challenge for the economy, which has been on a weaker footing in 2H21. With the ongoing domestic weakness and external uncertainty over US-China tensions, we expect continued volatility in Chinese asset classes.

Policy easing could provide some support for growth, but regulatory tightening may endure.

In our view, the heightened volatility could present some selective opportunities for longterm investors.

Eleven Ying, global market head and Singapore CEO, Heritvest Global China's annual GDP growth rate is expected to be 5.0% in 2022. We just happen to have released our "Guidelines for 2022 Global Assets Allocation". Our core investment themes for 2022 are:

While valuations of Chinese stocks may now look attractive after recent declines, caution is still advised in the medium term – on account of regulatory concerns, slower Chinese growth, tighter credit and the problems in the real estate sector.

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Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management The roadmap for HK-Chinese equities will remain volatile during the first half of 2022. The fiscal and monetary easing highlighted in the Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) held by the Chinese government in December 2021 will take time to filter through into the economy. Besides, investors’ confidence will not return until there are clearer signs of abating regulatory tightening on the tech and property sectors.

The Omicron variant could hurt near-term sentiment, but its severity should be of lesser concern.

We expect market momentum to improve into the second half of the year. Higher credit impulse typically goes hand-in-hand with market momentum. We believe HK-China shares should see a modest rebound in the range of 8-10% by year-end. Any upside revision from there will depend on the magnitude of policy easing.

In terms of strategy, we see value in financials, especially the China banking stocks as they will benefit from higher loan growth guided by PBoC. Renewable names should see a further re-rating in view of the decarbonisation drive.

Consumer staples are worth a revisit as they are expected to achieve higher earnings growth in the next two years.

Internet names should see further decline in earnings this year as tech giants like Alibaba have said they will ramp up investments while sacrificing profits. We believe there will be better times for the Internet sector in 2023.

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along with the uptake of vaccinations and effective medicines, healthcare, pharmacy and other benefited service-oriented sectors could take off. pay attention to the application of cutting innovation technology sectors, which should help elevate the productivity of the whole society against the backdrop of increased uncertainties, investing in alternatives can effectively complement the traditional portfolio climate change will become the key trend in ESG investments C h i n a 's h i g h - q u a l i t y d e v e l o p m e n t will centre around the specialisation, refinement, differentiation and innovation under the main theme of China's internal circulation, consumption will improve in quality and increase in volume C h i n a 's C h i n a " d u a l c a r b o n " g o a l s (reaching carbon emissions peak before 2030 and becoming carbon neutral before 2060) will aid the long-term development of new energy in the new wave of China's infrastructure i n v e s t m e n t , t h e r e w i l l b e e xc e l l e n t opportunities to invest in logistics-related real estate

Cai Xinfa, Ping An Group executive, special assistant to the Bank’s president and head of retail banking, Ping An Bank In terms of policy impact: The core factors that will affect the investment of the whole year are that the tone set for 2022 is stable growth, and that the 20th National Congress of the CPC to be held at the end of 2022 may propose new initiatives and goals for modernisation. Stable growth is expected to strengthen risk assets such as A-shares and Hong Kong stocks.

In terms of investment advice, we have the following recommendations: For A-shares, the index will rise slightly. Focus on investment opportunities in the three main lines, which are new infrastructure and new consumption in the policy line; consumer staples in the performance line; technological innovation and carbon-neutral investment in the long-term growth line.

We expect bonds to be volatile throughout the year. The risk of default will decrease to some extent.

Three major factors, including policy fix-up, performance recovery, and valuation bottoming out, will bring Hong Kong stocks allocation value, but their rise will still require some optimistic signals.

The main factor for Chinese USD bonds will be the impact from the Fed shrinking its balance sheet. Another will be the default in the real estate industry. However, the above-mentioned is expected to improve in 2022, which may bring investment opportunities.

Alok Saigal, head, Private Wealth, Edelweiss Wealth Management China has always been a volatile market with sharp drawdowns and equally fast recoveries. I think, in these volatile times, it can be a good opportunity to start accumulating Chinese equities via strong fund managers and pooled vehicles.

Outside the developed markets, China is the only country that can provide a lot of opportunity to the global risk capital and has the ability to absorb capital. Thus, China shall always remain a number one alternative to US equities. However, an allocation to Chinese assets should be done with at least a five-year investment horizon as current volatility could continue longer.

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Given the majority of Asian wealth is located onshore, how should international private banks best target and dif ferentiate themselves in these market s?

For domestic regional private banks, what is the most effective strategy for competing with international players?

Vincent Chui, head Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley PWM Asia Onshore and offshore private banking present two very different sets of services and products for the same segment of UHNW and HNW clients of international private banks. There is definitely synergy between these two sets of businesses, particularly in terms of client referral, but client motivations and expectations differ between the two.

Generally speaking, offshore private banking focuses on global asset diversification, wealth planning, capital markets and access to sophisticated products and global connectivity.

Onshore private banking provides a much larger range of local products which could involve both simple and sophisticated banking needs. Because of the changing global and regional political, economic and health challenges, there remains a strong secular growth opportunity for offshore private banking, even though the majority of wealth will always be onshore.

or joint ventures, to bring international wealth management capabilities onshore.

For instance, in November 2019 Thailand’s regulator relaxed foreign trading and exchange regulations and Thai nationals can now invest offshore. Pictet has taken a long-term positive view of the Thai market and has forged an alliance with Bangkok Bank. As Pictet prides itself on best-in-class investment solutions and platforms, combined with the distribution network of Bangkok Bank, we believe this is a “win-winwin” for Pictet, Bangkok Bank, and Thai clients.

Since our collaboration agreement last year, a few hundred million dollars has been invested into Pictet funds and managed products distributed by Bangkok Bank.

Raymond Ang, global head, Affluent Clients, Standard Chartered Bank As an international private bank, the key differentiating factors which Standard Chartered brings include:

Tee Fong Seng, CEO Asia-Pacific, Pictet Wealth Management Even before the pandemic, with the advent of Common Reporting Standards (CRS) and Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), the wealth management hubs of Singapore and Hong Kong had been upscaling in terms of client segment focus, targeting more sophisticated clients.

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The governments in Hong Kong and Singapore have initiated programmes to facilitate this transition. InvestHK and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, as well as the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Economic Development Board in Singapore have incentivised and attracted UHNW clients to set up family offices (FOs) in the both cities. The introduction of the Variable Capital Company (VCC) highlights how the Singapore regulator is incentivising FOs to use a fund structure for their longer term wealth succession planning. Hong Kong too has introduced various tax incentive regimes to attract setting up of funds in the city.

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While some international players are establishing domestic branches or subsidiaries onshore, we have seen a trend among regional and domestic banks of collaborating with international private banks through strategic alliances, partnerships

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a presence in 59 of the world’s most dynamic markets, with strong local presence in Asia, especially in key financial hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong, which allows us to capture onshore wealth; an offshore network and presence which allow serving clients when they have offshore needs; the ability to help clients invest and diversify internationally; depth and breadth of product offerings, such as access to alternatives solutions, FX and structured products, ESG-driven investments and a robust and flexible credit offering (although the gap with local players is narrowing); the ability to provide wealth and succession planning advice and solutions; and the ability to offer solutions across multiple booking centres aligned to clients’ international wealth needs.

As onshore wealth grows, there has been a trend where international private banks have started (or are starting) to go onshore through partnerships or acquisitions to capture the growth opportunities.

For Standard Chartered, we are an international bank present in the key Asian markets. Our unique footprint, especially across many emerging

market economies, is a key advantage. Our ‘One Bank’ culture enables the private bank to benefit from collaboration and cross-fertilisation amongst different countries and teams, taking advantage of the wide array of talent and expertise that ultimately benefits clients.

Kwang Kam Shing, CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Bank Asia Our clients – where they have businesses and families across jurisdictions – are generally global in nature and are keen to connect with likeminded people in other regions. We’re able to cater to this need because we can draw on the strength of our global investment capability and network to help connect clients with the right people — no matter where they are.

Taking one step back and looking at J.P. Morgan overall, strengths in other lines of business gives clients access to other J.P Morgan capabilities through partnerships, where we operate in 17 markets in Asia Pacific.

Our advisors and team operating in-market are equipped with world-class financial acumen and nuanced understanding of the local landscape, who are able to address unique market needs and ever-changing market dynamics.

Michael Blake, Asia CEO, Union Bancaire Privée UBP’s Asia business is founded on a vibrant and fast-growing international wealth management franchise. This is our clear area of expertise and we strongly believe that the international wealth management market will grow with a focus on Hong Kong and Singapore. With our clear proposition, we are well placed to support clients in both jurisdictions.

Our approach to onshore markets outside of Hong Kong and Singapore is to focus on geographies where we believe we can establish a strong and meaningful business for the long term. China stands out in this context as the biggest opportunity across the region. In fact, I believe we are now approaching a golden age of wealth management development in China, where international investment expertise will become increasingly important and accessible to domestic clients. As always at UBP, we will lead with investment expertise, focusing on specific segments where we can add value.

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David Shick, head Private Banking Greater China and branch manager Hong Kong, Bank Julius Baer Although the landscape is changing and can often present different challenges, the client and personalised advice remain at the core of everything we do. We see a vast amount of potential in technology to create a more efficient value chain for the banking industry, and our strategy at Julius Baer has always been to invest in all aspects of growth.

Two years ago, we introduced a strategy to shift, sharpen and accelerate, and have advanced further than we previously thought possible. Our priority is to embrace positive transformation and stay relevant to our clients, with prompt signals through their desired channels.

The core of an effective strategy to compete will be in seamless connectivity between clients and relationship managers, ensuring all needs are met in any way they need, be it physically or virtually.

Additionally, we remain steadfast in the face of the increased risk posed by cyberfraud, and rigorously maintain the safeguards that provide a secure banking environment for clients.

Investing heavily in technology will enhance the client experience, and while much of the client base is transitioning to a younger generation who may prefer to be engaged on digital platforms, the importance of ensuring our systems remain accessible and easy to understand is essential to us, and we ensure all clients are comfortable using the modern tools at their disposal that allow for a more integrated ecosystem.

Another key to staying competitive in the market is speed of communication, and even though technology has transformed how quickly we can notify and engage with clients, we function on the dedication and talent of our team, which is evolving alongside these accelerated channels of communications.

Andy Chai, Asia CEO, Bank J. Safra Sarasin The private banking industry has evolved much over the last decades. Private bankers, in addition to having the skillset to develop and nurture client relationships, are expected to have a good understanding of global markets, macroeconomics and even geopolitics, in order to cater to the clients’ evolving needs, fill the potential gaps in their investment portfolios, meet their financial goals and advise on their business and wealth succession planning.

Long-term thinking is the main condition for real and lasting economic success and private banks have to stay ahead of the market. In the last couple of years, ranging from young nextgeneration clients to sophisticated entrepreneurs, all are becoming more environmentally and socially conscious, and ESG has gained so much attention. J. Safra Sarasin has been adopting a sustainable investment philosophy for over 30 years, where sustainability is an integral component of the corporate strategy, and the lens for the viability of investments.

Sustainability and climate change took something of a backseat for many in the face of the pandemic. However, we have actually accelerated and broadened our commitment to the sustainable investment approach. Sustainability considerations play an essential role in identifying the winning business model of tomorrow. We have a well established approach to thematic investing, across the four broad themes of Green Transition, Changing Consumers, Technology Disruption and Future of Health. The latter two themes have proven to be particularly attractive to clients who are looking to benefit in the short term and to be structural winners in the mid and long term. We have been incorporating a sustainability mind set at all times to increase the quality of our analysis and raise the level of our insight.

Arnaud Tellier, CEO Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas WM It is correct that the majority of Asian wealth is located onshore.

However, most of the UHNWIs are entrepreneurs who have created considerable wealth by capitalising on the opportunities of the rapidly growing economies of Asia, in particular, China. This is the segment we target and we believe that we are one of the bestpositioned international financial institutions to serve them in Asia Pacific for a number of reasons.

As wealth grows, these individuals — who have succession and wealth planning needs, and who have an institutional investor mindset — prefer a more professional approach to managing their wealth.

This is where global universal banks come in.

They have the international connectivity and in-house capabilities to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of UHNWIs in this region.

For BNP Paribas Wealth Management, we have fostered a trusted relationship with families and entrepreneurs in the region; these are multi-generational relationships which have grown into regional and even global players in some instances.

BNP Paribas has a legacy of over 160 years in this region, with a presence in 13 markets. Not only do we have a strong franchise and brand name, our ability to draw on the strength of the ‘One Bank’ model in the region and our European connectivity set us apart from others.

The ‘One Bank’ model can only grow stronger with the amazing trend of wealth creation through business creations and innovation in the region.

Meanwhile, we are able to take full advantage of the capabilities of our investment bank as well as our asset management and real estate business to serve global and sophisticated investors.

Terence Chow, head, RBC Wealth Management – Asia R B C We a l t h M a n a g e m e n t i s differentiating itself in Asia with a strategy that highlights our specialty around serving Asia-based clients with global lives – particularly those with strong connections to Canada, US and British Isles.

Many wealthy families are choosing to split their time and business interests between countries, with others in retirement or enjoying the lifestyles that they worked so hard to create. While the concept of a global footprint may seem glamorous, it is also complex. Each jurisdiction has its own rules, regulations and customs that may cause frustration or challenges, particularly when clients are considering education, tax residency, real estate, wealth transfer, estate planning and business needs across international borders.

RBC is one of the largest banks in the world by market cap and a leading global wealth and asset manager. With our global footprint and full suite of capabilities, services and products, we are in a unique position to meet the needs of clients who fit this mould.

This is where we will continue to win, rather than trying to compete with the local private banks in Asia alone.

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Benjamin Cavalli, head of Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse We are obsessed about onshoring and this continues to be a top priority for our wealth management activities in Asia. There are tremendous wealth opportunities in this region and we want to be in the right places to capture growth especially in wealth accumulation, which is rising faster in Asia than in any other region. It is equallyimportant for us to access onshore wealth across Asia due to its varied and at times complex regulatory and business environment in different markets.

We have been rigorously expanding our regional footprint into onshore markets over the years and now have the most diversified onshore and offshore footprint in the industry. This positions us well to capture opportunities in the region.

As testament to our strategy, we have built highly successful onshore businesses over the last 10 years in the largest wealth markets of the region, beyond our Hong Kong and Singapore regional wealth hubs. Since 2017, we have expanded our onshore wealth management services to cover Australia, India, Japan, and Thailand. We also serve clients based in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan through our international hubs.

Eleven Ying, global market head and Singapore CEO, Heritvest Global P e r s o n a l l y, I b e l i e v e t h a t international private banks and domestic regional private banks should not deliberately pursue anything different. This is a process of learning from each other and drawing on the experience of one another.

Alok Saigal, head, Private Wealth, Edelweiss Wealth Management I believe the Indian HNWIs consider themselves as a global citizens rather than remaining tied domestically. This means they have assets in jurisdictions where they spend time for either residence, travel, leisure, education, or investment. International banks can focus on the global capital and domestic banks can focus on the onshore capital.

Domestic banks have an edge over international banks as they have a wide range of domestic offerings. Such a situation will allow international banks and domestic banks to co-exist and allow both to operate independently and profitably.

Omar Shokur, CEO Asia, Branch Manager Singapore, Indosuez Wealth Management The sheer depth and breadth of the talent pool in offshore wealth centres such as Singapore and Hong Kong, their regulatory environment, technological infrastructure, availability of sophisticated products and structures and legal framework mean that the offshore model remains strong and attractive for wealth managers and clients alike.

Indeed, it is not a question of competition.

Clients need both domestic and international banks because their needs are varied and multidimensional. While domestic banks have their strong value propositions offering deep local networks and presence, international banks offer clients access to international markets and booking centres.

As such, we see many HNWIs and UHNWIs choosing both domestic and international players to manage their portfolios.

A key focus for us is to continue to strengthen our position as the “Bank for Entrepreneurs” and deliver solutions that are tailored to what clients want, across both private banking and investment banking. We will keep evaluating opportunities to make the most of our well-established investment banking footprint across the region, where it has a decades-long history in most markets, which is a key differentiator in our onshore strategy.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Robert Fuh CEO private banking, Cathay United Bank

CATHAY UNITED BANK It is no understatement to say that 2021 was a watershed year for Taiwan’s private banking industry: the island’s regulators became determined to push the development of wealth management to a new level with the introduction of “Wealth Management 2.0”. As one of the seven banks/security firms to receive the new wealth management licence in 2021, Cathay United Bank’s private bank has long been recognised as an industry leader to serve Taiwan’s HNW/UHNWIs. Since its establishment eight years ago, Cathay United Bank Private Banking has sustained its growth momentum, marking a CAGR of 30.8% in assets under management. In 2021, AUM was up 27% YoY while profit rose 42.6% YoY, partly helped by regulatory tailwinds in wealth management.

Throughout 2021, the Taiwanese private bank built its proposition around three pillars: an onshore/offshore platform in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore to meet clients’ needs for flexibility; a comprehensive products & services platform; and front-to-back office digitalisation.

Despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Cathay was able to launch its private banking office in Singapore in 2021, providing a flexible solution and complementing the onshore asset allocation with offshore options.

In terms of products and services, the private bank’s private equity funds platform has played an important role helping clients identify attractive private equity opportunities in a low-yield environment. The bank capitalised on the strengths of its group-wide capabilities: being under the Cathay Financial Group umbrella, it has gained access to multiple international fund managers

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“2021 marks another successful year for Cathay United Bank private banking with a significant double-digit growth rate in AUM and profit. Winning the APB award for the third consecutive year recognises our strategic commitment to delivering an exceptional customer experience.

As we move into 2022, we will strive to build solid business for our valuable clients through onshore and offshore platform optimisation, customer-centric tailor-made solutions via both traditional and alternative investment vehicles, and deep industry expertise.”

-R obert Fuh, CEO private banking, Cathay United Bank

and attractive private deals. Together with its venture capital arm, Cathay Venture Inc., and asset management subsidiary Conning Asset management, the firm offers direct investment opportunities such as pre-IPO deals and privately-listed REITs. The bank works with external parties to provide trust planning services and wealth inheritance advice — a solution much sought after by Taiwanese entrepreneurs as many are on the cusp of transferring their wealth to the next generation and drafting succession plans.

As the first Taiwanese domestic bank to adopt Avaloq’s digital banking system in late 2020, the bank spared no effort to transform its digital infrastructure in a bid to accelerate its operational efficiency and enhance the client experience.

Cathay United Bank has been named Asian Private Banker’s Best Domestic Private Bank – Taiwan for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Rahul Malhotra head Private Banking Global India & Developed Markets, Bank Julius Baer

BANK JULIUS BAER Julius Baer’s focus on developing holistic solutions for the Global Indian market, whether onshore or out of one of several offshore hubs, helped deliver a muscular business performance in this segment during 2021.

Many of those efforts over the last 12 months or so have been guided by Rahul Malhotra, who joined Julius Baer in mid-2021 to spearhead a strategy to capture more of the non-resident Indian (NRI) and onshore India wealth markets.

Malhotra's priorities have been boosting the connections between the onshore and NRI businesses; sharpening Julius Baer’s focus on Indian family offices and up-andcoming technology entrepreneurs; and increasing the bank’s proposition across advisory, bespoke solutions and other products.

On many counts, the bank has succeeded in the aforementioned areas. Julius Baer in 2021 successfully solidified its position as the private bank of choice for wealthy Indian families, of which more than half have been a client of the lender for more than five years.

Geographically, building out the Middle East offshore hub of Dubai has been a strategic priority for Malhotra and Julius Baer.

Among the initiatives that Julius Baer has implemented to take advantage of synergies between the onshore and NRI markets are a broadening of the bank’s suite of onshore products targeted at offshore Indian clients, such as providing access to third-party India-focused funds and foreign portfolio investor (FPI) registration. For wealthy investors onshore looking to access offshore markets, Julius Baer is helping clients to navigate crossborder complexities through efforts such as setting up a dedicated liberalised remittance scheme desk in both Singapore and Zurich.

“We are delighted to receive the Best Private Bank – Global Indians award for the second consecutive year.

This award is testament to the strength of our global India franchise, the success of our business model, unwavering support of clients, and the dedication of our talented team to sustain a relentless client focus in everything we do.

We will make the most of the unique advantages of our platform to bring the best of Julius Baer to our clients, and to consolidate our position as the largest foreign wealth manager and market leader in India.”

- Rahul Malhotra, head Private Banking Global India & Developed Markets,Bank Julius Baer

All of those efforts paid off in the form of strong business performance across Julius Baer’s India-focused operations. In the period of performance reviewed by the judging panel, the bank’s AUM, net new money and revenue contribution from its NRI and onshore India businesses all grew at market-leading rates.

While the bank’s team of RMs serving the onshore India market may not be the largest for this client segment, it is one of the most experienced, with an average tenure of 13 years at Julius Baer. They are complemented by RMs serving the NRI market from offshore hubs such as Dubai, Singapore and Zurich.

For these reasons, Bank Julius Baer has been named Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Global Indians for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Anupam Guha head Private Wealth Management, ICICI Securities

ICICI SECURITIES If 2020 was the year of strict COVID-19 lockdowns, stomach-churning market volatility and economic upheaval for India, 2021 was the year of rapid vaccinations, soaring equities and rebounding growth.

For the country’s wealth management industry, that narrative was charted in the performance of ICICI Securities, which Asian Private Banker has handed the accolade for Best Domestic Private Bank – India at its latest annual Awards for Distinction.

The judging panel’s decision was based on the markettopping business performance ICICI Securities turned in during the period under consideration, across metrics including asset gathering, revenue growth, as well the Indian private bank’s efforts to boost its product platform.

During full year 2021, AUM at ICICI Securities not only doubled compared to the bank’s asset base during the nadir of the pandemic a year earlier, but also represented a significant increase over its AUM in 2019. Top line at the private bank during the same period surged by a similar percentage and, perhaps even more significantly, ICICI Securities managed to shift the bulk of its revenue to more stable recurring sources as more clients deployed their assets into longer-term products.

While much of that performance can be attributed to a booming year for India’s capital markets, ICICI Securities in 2021 also forged ahead with product innovation. Among the products launched during the year that caught the judging panel’s attention were those under the ‘Premium Portfolios’. The first, ‘Premium Portfolios: Masters of the Street’, allows clients to invest in hand-picked baskets of stocks

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“The last two years have been unprecedented and have been a harbinger of change, adaptability and innovation. For us it meant active engagement with clients, monitoring their portfolios and helping them to be on course in their financial journey through these tumultuous times.

The journey for us starts with knowing clients better and offering hyper-personalised solutions, aligned with their risk profile and needs across investments, protection and lending. We have used technology to improve client experience and are continuously innovating to ensure that we deliver these solutions through an omni-channel — be it through the traditional RM channel, a digital DIY platform or a digi-assist hybrid model.

The last two years have once again taught us that the core of wealth management has always been asset allocation; that it is impossible to time the markets but that it is possible to assess risk reward and follow it with discipline despite all the news flow and turmoil around us. Passive and Smart Beta strategies, asset allocation solutions and the Digital First approach define the way forward for our business.”

- Anupam Guha, head Private Wealth Management, ICICI Securities

curated by leading Indian fund managers. The second, via a tie-up with US-based Interactive Advisors, gives clients access to international funds managed by leading global investment firms such as State Street Global Advisors and Legg Mason.

That is why ICICI Securities is named Asian Private Banker’s Best Domestic Private Bank – India for 2021.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Nitin Singh MD & CEO, Avendus Wealth Management

AVENDUS WEALTH MANAGEMENT India’s equity market boom since the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need in the country’s domestic wealth management market for well-researched, quality advice and customised solutions. The presence and accessibility of trustworthy and competent wealth managers to navigate the volatility is best appreciated in such times — as experienced by India’s still nascent financial market and UHNW investors — and that played to the advantage of Avendus Wealth Management (AWM).

For the second consecutive year, the KKR-backed independent wealth manager stood out from its domestic peers in another year of strong business growth. Its assets under management (AUM) hit the US$5 billion mark by the end of 2021, ranking it among the largest independent wealth managers in India. On a percentage basis, AUM was up 57% YoY. Building on the efforts in the last two years, the firm focused on enhancing its capabilities, adding new ones, and worked rigourously to offer a product suite covering a range of curated, differentiated, market-leading solutions.

Within a single year, the firm added 450 families as clients, drawing on the expertise of a team of more than 40 client relationship managers, who delivered best-inclass solutions for their clients, driving the productivity in terms of AUM and revenue. A team of experts across equity, debt, and alternate products endeavoured to bring a comprehensive suite of well-researched solutions — across asset classes, family office services and wealth lending solutions — to cover the entire spectrum of clients’ evolving needs.

In a show of its commitment to growth, the firm created a stand-alone liquidity event desk in 2021 in order to deepen relationships and be the first port of call for new money events and to stay abreast of the wealth creation in the country.

The impressive 294% YoY jump in revenue could not have been achieved without the firm’s focus on expanding its offerings in the alternative asset class — ranging from funds to direct investment deals. This strategic positioning managed to meet investor demand

“We are proud and humbled to receive this acknowledgment from Asian Private Banker for the second time in a row and would like to thank them for this recognition. This successive win truly highlights the effort and dedication of our team over the years in building a wealth management platform rooted firmly on high-quality talent, differentiated products, and robust governance.

We have grown exponentially in the last 12 to 18 months and we remain committed to lead with exceptional ideas through innovative offerings and ahead of the curve insights. To this, we add our focused “client first” approach for fostering deep engaging relationships and elevate client experience and productivity through an industry-leading digital technology platform.

We are deeply excited of the build-out of our offshore platform in the US and Singapore markets where we will work closely with families to provide access to digital and other opportunities in India."

- Nitin Singh, MD & CEO, Avendus Wealth Management

for access to alternatives — which is less developed domestically. AWM’ unique sourcing ability through its vast fund manager network, its in-house diligence and monitoring of the investments helped it to establish itself as one of the leading Indian wealth managers in alternative investments.

Within the past twelve months alone, AWM raised more than US$500 million in alternative funds and private placements, more than in any previous year. It now has US$760 million AUM in the emerging asset class.

As a name synonymous with growth and a platform that takes a holistic approach and offers a comprehensive suite of solutions across different asset classes (and for different stages of investor wealth), Avendus Wealth Management was picked as Asian Private Banker’s Best Domestic Independent Wealth Manager – India for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Justin Greiner CEO, JBWere, executive NAB Private Wealth

NAB PRIVATE WEALTH National Australia Bank (NAB) made an extraordinary change over 2020-2021, merging three of its key businesses — the private banking NAB Private, the wealth management arm JBWere, and the digital trading platform nabtrade — to deliver a single, compelling private wealth offering in Australia.

The new NAB Private Wealth is built entirely around what clients need, with the support from the wealth and advice expertise of JBWere. The freshly minted private bank seeks to drive on the three platforms to provide more exclusive investment opportunities, including tailored lending solutions to key clients — business owners, Ultra High Net Worth individuals and major family groups.

NAB Private Wealth has seen major achievements within the space of just a year. As one of the top four private banks in Australia, NAB has A$64 billion assets under advice, becoming one of the top three online traders and the largest margin lending business within the domestic private banks.

The bank proved its resilience and commitment to bring the best investment solutions and private wealth services with tremendous performance from positive client assets growth.

NAB Private Wealth recorded A$7.4 billion growth of Funds Under Management (FUM) last year, where 50% of FUM growth came from new clients, marking a total of 123% climb in Net Fund Flow. On the key private bank business in the land down under – lending, the bank’s home lending book grew to A$1.9 billion, 1.8 times over the market growth rate.

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“I’m incredibly proud that NAB Private Wealth has been acknowledged for its outstanding client service and standards. A massive thank you to our Private Wealth team who works so hard every day to turn our vision of a “world class experience” into a reality.

We look forward to an exciting 2022 as we remain focused on the most important thing of all — delivering for our clients.”

- Justin Greiner, CEO, JBWere, executive NAB Private Wealth

NAB Private Wealth has added over 44,000 new clients to its trading platform nabtrade, in addition to a 12% growth in trading volumes, supporting the growing demand from clients who wish to manage their own investment.

With its pledge to deliver an excellent private wealth experience to clients in both Australia and New Zealand, the bank drives on an integrated operating model — across Private Bank, JBWere and Investment Solutions — to enable a “Team of 3”, allowing experienced private wealth advisers to provide clients with a full suite of offerings meeting their needs in investment, lending, corporates or family services.

The judging panel was impressed by the commitment and success NAB Private Wealth made over the past year and named it Best Domestic Private Bank – Australia in Asian Private Banker’s 2021 Awards for Distinction.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Narit Kosalathip head of Wealth Management Kiatnakin Phatra Securities

KIATNAKIN PHATRA SECURITIES Despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing severe disruptions to the Thai economy in 2021, Kiatnakin Phatra Securities managed to deliver a record performance on metrics including AUM and revenue, in addition to hitting landmarks in the development of its discretionary and offshore businesses.

Strong asset and revenue growth during the period under consideration at the Bangkok-based group was delivered in part by Kiatnakin Phatra Securities’ ability to innovate its product offerings.

Arguably the most profound shift in Kiatnakin Phatra Securities’ product offering was the launch of its debut offshore discretionary mandate in October 2020. The product drew on the strength of the group’s existing capabilities in investment advisory to deliver an overall portfolio solution whose open architecture allowed Kiatnakin Phatra Securities to deliver best-in-class third-party managers to clients — a major differentiator compared to some of its peers in the domestic market.

Numbers shared with Asian Private Banker showed that the discretionary solution, which comes with a relatively small ticket size, has had strong inflows since its launch.

The judging panel was impressed by improvements made to Kiatnakin Phatra Securities’ private markets platform during the year. In addition to its existing partnerships with KKR & Co and Oaktree Capital, the Thai lender onboarded Blackstone and Brookfield.

Over the past 12 months, Kiatnakin Phatra Securities launched three private equity funds focused on strategies including distressed debt and buyouts — all of them heavily oversubscribed by clients.

For Kiatnakin Phatra Securities, 2021 was also characterised by the efforts to ramp up its ETF, offshore equities and Lombard lending programmes, all of which were broadened during the year.

All these enhancements — and broader efforts to encourage clients to take a more holistic, portfolio-

“Our mission statement to be the best global private bank for Thais has guided our continued effort to build the global capability — on top of our strength in local investment and proximity to clients — to deliver the best and seamless solution for them. This award proves our unique talent in deep client understanding as well as strong expertise in bringing relevant global opportunities for our local-bias clients.

The priority to bolster our global capability has greatly benefited not only clients but our business performance as well: despite the challenging environment for most businesses, we achieved a record performance on many counts — a testament to our leading position in the onshore wealth management scene."

-N arit Kosalathip, head of Wealth Management, Kiatnakin Phatra Securities

driven and long-term approach to their investments — helped drive improvements in the revenue mix at Kiatnakin Phatra Securities, with recurring income enjoying robust year-on-year growth.

The judging panel commends Kiatnakin Phatra Securities for its efforts on the digital front during the year. The Thai lender developed and promoted a series of digital investment advisory content — ranging from podcasts, to infographics and video clips — as part of broader efforts to relieve some of the burden on RMs to deliver investment ideas to clients. Kiatnakin Phatra Securities expanded its digitisation efforts as well in 2021, including the integration of e-Signature and DocuSign into contactless and paperless transactions to shorten processing times for the client onboarding process and product subscriptions.

For these reasons, Kiatnakin Phatra Securities is Asian Private Banker’s Best Domestic Private Bank – Thailand for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Arlene Joan Tanjuaquio-Agustin head of Private Banking Union Bank of the Philippines

UNIONBANK PRIVATE BANKING Since it was launched in 2019, UnionBank Private Banking has established itself as one of the most recognised private banks in the Philippines, thanks to a focus on “unlocking possibilities” for clients by offering a well-rounded, bespoke, open-architecture wealth management service and advisory.

Despite being a new entrant to the wealth management industry in the Philippines, the bank has delivered a strong performance in 2021, surpassing even its own targets for the year.

UnionBank Private Banking showed a 44% increase in FY21 AUM, with a compound annual growth rate of 35% from 2019 to FY21. In terms of new accounts, the bank garnered a 53% increase in the number of accounts in 21FY compared to 2020.

In the complex and ever-evolving world of wealth management, UnionBank Private Banking understands the importance of pairing a global network of capabilities and expertise, with localised relationships and experience. The bank has formed a strategic alliance with Lombard Odier, providing clients access to holistic wealth management solutions and globally diversified investment portfolios. This has elevated the bank’s service and allowed for global investment capabilities with a “local touch”.

On training talent, the bank draws on its alliance with a global private bank Lombard Odier to acquaint its relationship managers with family office services and ensure a high quality client service, exemplified by regular product and services training, fund briefings; market outlook seminars. UnionBank Private Banking is also planning to expand its manpower in support of its growing business.

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“It is truly an honour for UnionBank Private Banking to receive this prestigious award for the third year. We are grateful for clients’ unwavering trust and confidence as we unlock possibilities for them, through delivering a premium quality of service, especially during a global pandemic.

In times of uncertainty, clients have turned to us for guidance to manage their investment portfolios. As a bespoke wealth management solutions provider, UnionBank Private Banking has positioned itself as the clients’ partner in navigating their wealth towards financial legacy. It is our mission to fulfil clients’ dream to grow their wealth, accumulate it for the long term, and eventually pass it on to the next generation.

In strategic alliance with global private bank Lombard Odier, we provide world-class investment strategies and advisory services, with a local touch, to the Philippine market.

This is a strong affirmation for UnionBank Private Banking and we look forward to many more years of excellence in the wealth management industry.”

-A rlene Joan Tanjuaquio-Agustin, head of Private Banking, Union Bank of the Philippines

As a pioneer in the promotion of the importance of the next-gen services in the Philippines, UnionBank Private Banking launched its NextGen Academy together with Lombard Odier to educate the nextgens on investment and prepare them for a smooth transition of wealth and the family legacy. The flagship event offers next-gen clients an opportunity to attend multiple relevant courses, across several weeks of workshops and talks.

In terms of offerings, UnionBank Private Banking has brought into play the platform from its partners to offer clients a holistic succession planning, discretionary and advisory portfolio management, and custody services.

In 2020, the event was transformed into a digital format allowing the participation of a record 530-plus registrants from different countries and regions.

On the funds selection side, the bank enables clients to gain access to over 100,000 offshore investment funds from more than 2,000 fund groups — including some of the largest global fund managers, such as BlackRock and Vanguard.

As a newly established private bank in Asia, UnionBank Private Banking has shown tremendous strength and ambitious strategies to bring the best to its clients. It therefore wins Asian Private Banker’s Best Domestic Private Bank – Philippines 2021 Award for Distinction.

AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Datuk Hamirullah Boorhan head of Community Financial Services Malaysia, Maybank

MAYBANK PRIVATE The ongoing pandemic acted as a two-edged sword for the private wealth management industry in Malaysia: while travel restrictions were in place during most of last year, offshore bankers had a hard time meeting their onshore Malaysian clients during the lockdown.

This created an opportunity for domestic players to build stronger relationships with their multi-banked clients and get involved in business opportunities for which clients used to first reach out to offshore banks.

Being a domestic player, Maybank Private managed to grow its wallet share in 2021 by listening to onshore U/ HNW clients and meeting their needs.

As economic activities remain muted, Maybank Private stayed close to meeting the liquidity needs of entrepreneurial clients. The bank revamped its credit initiation process and templates for wealth credit facilities to enhance efficiency, broadening the list of acceptable collateral for Lombard loans and conducting annual reviews to enhance collateral parameters.

Maybank Private equipped the team for these opportunities in 2021 through increased collaboration with the group’s business banking and corporate banking segments, strengthening its capability to meet clients’ business needs such as IPOs and private placements.

Since the pandemic raised the awareness of the need for succession planning, Maybank Private introduced new wealth planning tools to its Malaysian clients in 2021, including private trusts and structures that include Universal Life insurance features.

On the digital front, Maybank Private in Malaysia began its first phase of core platform implementation which will be in line with Maybank Private Singapore and Maybank Premier Singapore, improving operational efficiency across branches while ensuring clients can enjoy a streamlined client experience of the same quality, both onshore and offshore.

“It truly is an honour to be recognised by the industry as the best domestic private bank in Malaysia, for the third year in a row. Maybank Private has continuously developed and enhanced its product offerings, strongly emphasised its advisory capabilities and drawn on the strength of its regional network to provide an excellent client experience.

We embarked on some major changes last year, in a bid to prioritise our client journey in a changing environment. Maybank Private launched a new core banking system, providing clients with a holistic view of their investments — facilitating their decisionmaking process.

We also optimised our digital tools, so the team of client advisors can remotely engage with our clients seamlessly. We are truly proud of the team and laud its amazing achievements and its ability to quickly adapt to the new normal."

-D atuk Hamirullah Boorhan, head of Community Financial Services Malaysia, Maybank

As market volatility in 2021 vindicated the importance of professional advice and disciplined investments, Maybank Private saw a significant uptake by onshore clients of multi-asset DPMs, with both equity and fixed income asset allocations. The portion of investment assets in the AUM of Maybank Private was up over 30%, and the investment fee income became the main driver of the bank’s strong double-digit increase in revenue.

This heralds a promising trend for the bank: the ability to advise over a bigger portion of clients’ assets in the future, moving away from a typical pain point of many local players — having a large AUM but mostly stalled as low revenue-generating assets.

Maybank Private is Asian Private Banker’s Best Domestic Private Bank – Malaysia for 2021.

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AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION 2021

Sista Pravesthi senior vice-president, Wealth Management, Bank Mandiri

BANK MANDIRI Few players in Indonesia’s private banking sector can count on such natural strengths as Bank Mandiri’s private bank: backed by the largest bank in Indonesia in terms of assets, loans, and deposits, the bank’s wealth management business benefits from the group synergies with investment management, brokerage, securities, digital banking, and treasury services.

“Stable and steady growth” best describes the bank’s performance in 2021. As of the end of 3Q21, assets under management reached IDR 230 trillion, up 6.4% YoY, while its private banking revenue as well as the contribution margin both increased by 7% YoY. The uptake in business activity was partly the result of Indonesia’s slow recovery from the pandemic, which helped relationship managers to conduct more client meetings and receive inquiries. At the same time, the bank managed to reduce costs by 3% YoY. In terms of talent management, the bank added its investment counsellor and advisor headcounts to strengthen product and investment advice support for the relationship managers. This resulted in a near-6% uptick in revenue per RM. To nurture the professional growth of its RMs, Mandiri Private developed relevant training programmes for RMs. In respect of platform and product offerings, 2021 saw a number of milestones at Mandiri Private. Ahead of its domestic competitors, it launched a discretionary portfolio management offering in collaboration with Swiss pure play Lombard Odier, granting UHNWI clients access to overseas investments via Lombard Odier’s “core investments” scheme in a discretionary

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“Wealth Management Bank Mandiri is honoured to be awarded Best Domestic Private Bank – Indonesia in the best private banking awards category.

Bank Mandiri is committed to providing even better services to wealth customers. In addition, Bank Mandiri will continue to collaborate and create synergies with the internal divisions of Bank Mandiri and with subsidiary companies — such as Mandiri Investment Manager and Mandiri Securities — to provide customers with one-stop financial solutions.”

-S ista Pravesthi. senior vice-president, Wealth Management, Bank Mandiri

mandate. The bank has thus been the first in Indonesia to offer such a service since the regulatory greenlighted discretionary portfolios in early 2018.

Mandiri Private has a 5% penetration of Indonesia’s domestic mutual fund market and offers more than 50 types of mutual fund products on its platform. It is a major distributor of Indonesian government bonds — and the bond market boom in the country in the last two years has contributed significantly to the bank’s AUM growth.

As a well established private banking player with a leading platform aiming to match the service quality of international players through onshore partnerships, Bank Mandiri is the winner of Asian Private Banker’s Best Domestic Private Bank – Indonesia 2021 Award for Distinction.

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