HSBC Holdings’ top boss said he is pushing to improve his firm’s wealth management capabilities in China and India to be on par with its key market of Hong Kong.
“We have a really strong wealth management business in Hong Kong,” chief executive officer Noel Quinn said. “I want an equally strong wealth management capability in mainland China, Singapore, for Asean, and in India.”
Quinn is hosting the bank’s three-day inaugural Global Investment Summit that kicked off in Hong Kong earlier Monday (Apr 8).
Along with other global banks, HSBC is building out its wealth-management operations to help offset the more volatile earnings derived from dealmaking and trading. HSBC returned to India last year, while also expanding its presence in other parts of Asia as well as the Middle East.
The London-headquartered lender last year agreed to buy Citigroup’s retail wealth management portfolio in mainland China, adding to its expansion in the world’s second-largest economy.
The deal came as growing concerns over the direction of the Chinese economy spooked foreign investors. China is also seeing a protracted slump in the country’s real estate market, which had been a major source of wealth growth, and a crackdown on private enterprise.
GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Quinn said he wants a platform of four strong pillars of wealth management which includes, insurance, asset management and private banking.
In India, HSBC’s global head of wealth and personal banking Nuno Matos said last year that businesses in the South Asian nation want to make acquisitions overseas, and some of the 32 million expat Indians need wealth management services.
HSBC reported fourth-quarter profit fell 80 per cent after taking unexpected charges on holdings in a Chinese bank and from selling its French retail operations. However, rising interest rates globally boosted HSBC’s full-year earnings to a record.
The lender’s pivot to Asia over the past few years has been hampered by growing geopolitical tensions and sluggish economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Initial public offerings have been depressed in Hong Kong, with proceeds slumping to the lowest in more than two decades last year. BLOOMBERG
