Best Independent Wealth Manager — Discretionary Portfolio Management

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. 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 or remotely, RBC Wealth 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. 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.)

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. 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.

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. 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.