Best Private Bank — Fund Advisory

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. 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.

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.

Jason Moo head Private Banking South East Asia and branch manager Singapore, Bank Julius Baer

“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.

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.

For Hong Kong, there are tremendous 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 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.

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. ”

- Ernest 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.