\n As access to investment products becomes increasingly commoditised across Asia’s wealth management industry, the question of where value is genuinely created shifts from the platform to the quality of advice and the structure in which it is delivered. For firms built around an institutional investment philosophy, the challenge is to make that approach accessible and understandable to individual clients without diluting the rigour that underpins it.
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\nAt the Hubbis Investment Forum Singapore 2026, the opening panel examined how private banks and independent wealth managers are seeking to differentiate themselves in a market where competition for clients continues to intensify. The discussion, chaired by Michael Stanhope, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hubbis, brought together leaders from across the spectrum. Hugh Chung, Chief Investment Officer at Endowus, explained how the firm’s endowment-style investment approach applies across individual and institutional clients, why proper advice remains undervalued in the region, and what the next generation of clients expects from a digital-native platform.\n <\/p>\n
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Key Takeaways<\/p>\n
\n\tEndowus takes its name from its founding principle, which is to bring endowment-style investing to all clients, with no distinction in approach between individual and institutional investors.
\n\tAccess to products is becoming commoditised, and Chung argued that the more durable source of differentiation lies in proper advice, which he defined as goal-based investing and the right structuring of portfolios rather than stock tips or timing calls.
\n\tAlignment between client outcomes and firm revenue is central to the model, with the firm’s income growing as clients succeed in reaching their goals.
\n\tBeing digital native offers an advantage with next-generation clients, but Chung emphasised that wealth management remains a trust business and that human interaction is essential regardless of the delivery channel.
\n\tThe most significant recent initiative was simplifying complex strategies into building blocks that clients can understand and use to reach their goals.
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Institutional Access Without Distinction<\/p>\n
Chung opened by grounding the firm’s proposition in its name. Endowus, he explained, stands for endowment-style investing for all of us. The practical meaning is that the firm brings institutional access and solutions to individual clients and institutional clients alike, and does not differentiate between the two in how it serves them. The institutional client base includes endowments, nonprofits and family offices.<\/p>\n
The approach is goal-based, and the investment solutions are designed to resemble endowment portfolios. “On our liquid side we have married traditional and liquid alts to create very high-quality risk-adjusted return portfolios, which I think for most individuals they would not have access to in a lot of situations,” Chung said.<\/p>\n
He described alignment as the starting point for the model. The firm’s revenue grows as clients succeed in reaching their goals. “The more clients succeed in terms of reaching their goal, the higher our revenue becomes, so I think that’s really the key differentiation for us.”<\/p>\n
The Value of Proper Advice<\/p>\n
When the panel discussion turned to whether product access remains a meaningful differentiator, Chung agreed that it is becoming commoditised. Availability is increasing, prices are falling and minimums are getting lower. He described this as a positive development but argued that the more significant source of value lies in advice.<\/p>\n
The difficulty, Chung said, is that the concept of advice is often misunderstood in the region. “The moment you hear advice, the layman would think, oh, it’s a stock tip or a timing advice, so I think there’s not a lot of willingness to pay for advice.” In his view, proper advice means something different: goal-based investing, choosing the right structure, and bringing together the right combination of asset classes including private assets and hedge funds, accompanied by proper investor education.<\/p>\n
Chung said that advice delivered in this way still has room to penetrate the market, and that alignment and trust are critical components. “Money management is all about trust,” he said.<\/p>\n
Digital Native, But Human First<\/p>\n
Asked whether being a digital platform gives Endowus an advantage with next-generation clients, Chung offered what he described as a slightly controversial observation. “You don’t want to use the same tailor that your father did,” he said, noting that digital-native clients tend to look for different things when it comes to managing their wealth.<\/p>\n
He was careful, however, to qualify the point. Wealth management is not e-commerce or online gaming, he said, and regardless of the delivery channel it remains a trust business. Chung referenced a phrase used by the firm’s co-founder: “We’re 100 per cent human, 100 per cent digital.” He noted that several of the firm’s client advisers were in the audience, underscoring that human interaction remains an important part of the client relationship.<\/p>\n
On the specific question of what next-generation clients want, Chung observed that many of them do want in-depth information on investments and conduct their own due diligence. The difference is that they prefer to do much of this themselves rather than being guided through it step by step. “You need to really have that good balance,” he said, “and I think really important to have high quality investment content and decisions.”<\/p>\n
Independent Advisory as a Regional Opportunity<\/p>\n
When the panel was asked to identify the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge facing the industry, Chung pointed to independent advisory as a significant growth area for the region. Chung pointed to the United States as an example, saying that close to 40 per cent of the market is now dominated by registered investment advisers, and suggested that a similar trend towards independent advisory could eventually emerge in Asia.<\/p>\n
Alongside that opportunity, Chung identified AI and technological disruption as both a potential benefit and a risk. The challenge, he said, is ensuring that a trust-based business can be delivered seamlessly as the technology landscape shifts.<\/p>\n
Simplifying Complexity<\/p>\n
Asked to name the most significant thing the firm had done in the past twelve months, Chung set aside AI, noting that Endowus has been active on that front but that he wanted to highlight a different initiative. The firm has focused on creating what he described as simple building blocks for clients, designed to help them reach their goals across what are in practice very complex underlying strategies.<\/p>\n
“Our job is to make it really simple and really self-explanatory for our clients,” Chung said. “I think that is in itself an innovation.” The initiative reflects the firm’s broader philosophy that institutional-quality investment solutions should be made accessible without requiring clients to navigate the complexity that sits behind them.<\/p>\n
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