HSBC plans to triple the contribution of its wealth management unit to overall profits at its retail arm over three years, a senior executive said, according to Reuters.

HSBC's wealth business caters to high earners who are not wealthy enough to qualify for the HSBC Private Bank, which expects its customers to entrust it with at least $4 million, the publication said.

Adrian Cristiani, head of global wealth management was quoted by the news agency as saying that wealth management for "mass affluent" clients accounted for around 10 per cent of pre-tax profits at HSBC's Personal Financial Services when Mr Cristiani joined from Barclays in 2008.

"From the bank's point of view we'd like to have an appropriate balance between interest income and fee based (revenues)," he said.