(April 15): Wealthy clients in Europe and the US are hunting for investment and wealth management options in Asia to shield their portfolios from volatility that’s here to stay, according to DBS Group Holdings Ltd’s head of private bank.
The rich from these regions are seeking to invest in businesses while some are looking for a secondary family office in Asia, said Joseph Poon at the Financial Times’ wealth management conference in Singapore. There’s a “a much stronger sense of caution all round” given the rocky geopolitical climate, rising energy costs and increasingly interconnected capital flows, he said.
The wealthy clients who are coming to the region want “absolute stability”, Poon said in a separate interview. “When it comes to Asia, they want an Asian powerhouse, which is us,” he said.
Singapore’s biggest lender has leaned on its wealth management business to bolster growth as loan margins narrow. DBS and local rivals drew a combined S$77 billion (US$61 billion or RM239.38 billion) in net new wealth money last year from rich clients. This pull may have intensified with the outbreak of the US-Iran war this year. The conflict has rattled global markets and prompted wealthy families across Asia to reassess where they park their money as they seek safe havens.
Volatility is “now a feature, not a bug”, said Poon.
DBS, which has been hiring relationship managers, is seeing its headcount grow consistently with the demand that’s coming in, according to Poon, who previously worked at UBS Group AG and Julius Baer Group Ltd. He didn’t elaborate on specific recruitment targets.