Hong Kong's PWM Sector Seeks Swiss Inspiration

Josh O'Neill

7 February 2018

Hong Kong’s private wealth management industry is looking to lend a hand from Switzerland in a bid to bolster its expertise to satisfy growing demand for its services from Chinese clients.

Because both are small jurisdictions with interconnected financial centres, Hong Kong and the Alpine State act as gateways to bigger markets like China and the European Union (EU), Amy Lo, chairman of the executive committee of the (PWMA), reportedly said in a recent interview.

“Demand for private wealth management from Chinese clients has increased a lot, so banks are likely to develop the sector. We would like to train up more students and upgrade our skills to address the talent shortage here,” Lo said. “We would like to increase international exposure to young talent in wealth management. Switzerland has a strong apprenticeship tradition.”

In 2016, China created a new billionaire every five days or so, and saw its total number of billionaires increase by 67 to 318, according to the UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers Billionaires Report 2017. If current growth trends continue, Asia will overtake the US in terms of total wealth in just four years, the report indicated.

Lo said such people had diversification needs in international markets, and Hong Kong could meet this by better positioning itself as a private banking hub in the Greater China and Asia regions.

The PWMA is weighing expanding its annual wealth management summits to host delegates assigned by the Swiss Bankers’ Association. The two bodies are reportedly discussing an exchange programme, through which Hong Kong’s wealth management professionals would visit Switzerland for training and to liaise with regulators. Swiss private bankers would also be sent to Hong Kong to learn about its wealth management landscape.