Banks turn to research and focused studies in bid to get upper hand in scramble to manage wealth of Asia-Pacific's ultrarich
Report by UBS shows expected growth for external asset managers in the Asia-Pacific region in the coming years
Asia-Pacific is a strategic area for major private banks who are fighting a pitched battle to manage the wealth of the region's ultrarich.
With China and India dominating the rise of the high-net-worth individuals globally in the past five years, these banks are doing their utmost to understand their spending habits, investing strategy and lifestyle choices.
This has resulted in a number of research and focused studies.
Swiss-based banking giant UBS teamed up with London-based WealthBriefing to release a report on the rise of external asset managers (EAM) in Asia. The study was conducted among the wealthy and EAM professionals in Hong Kong and Singapore, two of the most mature markets in Asia ex-Japan.
The main focus of the study was the strong growth expectations of the EAM market share and how more independent wealth advisers are expected to emerge in Asia.
Reto Marx, managing director and regional head of financial intermediaries, Apac, for UBS, estimates about 15 to 20 per cent of the wealth in Switzerland is managed by intermediaries. He says that in Asia it's still in its infancy, but more asset managers are branching out. "Asia for us is an interesting place and we are starting to look beyond Singapore and Hong Kong too," Marx says.
Wendy Spires, head of research at WealthBriefing, who wrote the report, says the EAM market is fragmented in Hong Kong. Spires says that it was interesting to compare regulation in Switzerland and Asia.
