Search

The article reports on wealth management services and the private banking industry. The discussion topics include rich peoples' demand for services, how wealth managers try to balance the cost of servicing wealthy clients with producing bank revenue, and the outlook for the private banking markets in Asia and Latin America. Competition in the wealth management sector outside the banking industry is noted.

The article informs on rise of family offices in Asia. It mentions that there are numerous drivers behind this institutionalisation and professionalisation of the management of the private wealth of Asia's high net worth, and ultra-wealthy families. It also mentions that immense proliferation of global regulations, as well as the associated tax revenue maximisation and information sharing and cooperation between national governments and their authorities are driving the growth.

The article looks at private banking for the wealthy in Asia as of June 2004. Asia is the new battleground for the world's private banks. But the attraction of Asia lies less in the absolute sums than in their prospective growth. Rapid economic expansion across the region is creating wealth at an astonishing pace. And more of that money is coming into the orbit of professional managers, as Asia's rich diversify from property and gold into bonds, equities and hedge funds. Unlike western clients, who are often content to invest at home, rich Asians generally demand a global service, partly because the region's financial crisis in 1997-98 taught them to spread their risks. The preponderance of family businesses in Asia creates another set of problems. All this makes private banking in Asia expensive and labour-intensive.