Four years ago, when Steffanie Yuen brought Endowus from Singapore to Hong Kong, the prevailing narrative in the wealth management industry was one of exodus. Capital, clients, and talent were all said to be moving in one direction. The decision to expand a Singapore-headquartered platform into Hong Kong at precisely that moment raised eyebrows. In hindsight, it looks prescient. The demand for multi-jurisdictional access has only intensified since then, and clients who were once content with a single booking centre are now actively seeking diversification across both markets.
At the recent Hubbis Independent Wealth Management Forum in Hong Kong, Yuen, Managing Director and Head of Hong Kong at Endowus, offered a distinctive perspective on the multi-hub wealth management trend. Speaking on the third panel of the day, she drew on Endowus’s experience as a technology-enabled platform serving clients across both Hong Kong and Singapore to describe how the appetite for multi-jurisdictional booking is extending well beyond the traditional ultra-high-net-worth segment, and why the industry must embrace collaboration over competition if it is to grow the opportunity for everyone.
Key Takeaways
Multi-Jurisdiction Demand Extends Beyond Private Banking: Clients in the affluent and high net worth segment, with investible assets of one to fifteen million US dollars, are increasingly seeking multi-hub access that was previously the preserve of ultra-high-net-worth families.
The Collapse of Credit Suisse Was a Turning Point: The event crystallised for many clients that diversification across institutions and jurisdictions is not optional.
Technology Must Solve the Consolidation Problem: Managing multiple statements, accounts, and booking centres remains a major pain point that can only be addressed through digital tools.
Trust Is the Limiting Factor: Clients’ willingness to share comprehensive financial data with a platform depends on trust in the technology and in the advisory relationship behind it.
The Industry Should Grow the Pie, Not Fight Over Slices: Jurisdictions are better served by collaboration and ecosystem development than by zero-sum competition for assets.
A Contrarian Bet That Proved Right
Yuen set the scene by explaining the logic behind Endowus’s decision to enter Hong Kong. The platform was founded in Singapore nearly a decade ago and has built its proposition around technology-enabled wealth management for clients with investible assets typically ranging from one to fifteen million US dollars. At the higher end, the firm works with independent external asset managers and multi-family offices who leverage the platform to manage their clients’ assets.
“Four years ago, if you rewind, everyone was rushing to Singapore,” she recalled. “And many people asked, why is a Singapore firm rushing to Hong Kong? But it is pertinent to what we’re talking about. We really firmly believe that it’s not either/or. The two cities do really complements.”
The decision reflected a conviction that the two jurisdictions serve different but overlapping client needs. For clients seeking resilience, the combination of both is stronger than either alone.
Bringing Multi-Jurisdiction Access to the Affluent and High Net Worth Segment
One of Yuen’s most distinctive contributions to the discussion was her observation that the appetite for multi-jurisdictional booking is no longer confined to the ultra-high-net-worth tier. When Endowus launched in Hong Kong, many of its clients did not have natural access to private banking services, let alone multi-jurisdiction booking.
“A lot of our client base do not naturally have private banking access or aren’t being well served by as they are considered to be at the lower tiers of wealth buckets served by private banks,” she explained. “Multi-jurisdiction booking is not something they’re used to. They are used to a premium banking kind of bank account. But with Endowus, because we are a tech-enabled platform, they can easily open up a Singapore account.”
This democratisation of multi-hub access is significant. Clients in the one to fifteen million dollar range are increasingly thinking about the same questions of resilience, optionality, and cross-border planning as ultra-high-net-worth families, and technology platforms are making it operationally feasible for them to act on those preferences.
Yuen noted that the trend is running in both directions. Chinese-background clients who already hold Singapore permanent residency are using the platform to apply for Hong Kong permanent residency, signalling a genuine appetite for what she described as a “multi-shoring” approach.
The Credit Suisse Catalyst
Yuen identified a specific event that accelerated the shift in client behaviour: the collapse of Credit Suisse in 2023. While the broader industry had long discussed the merits of institutional and jurisdictional diversification, it was the failure of a major global bank that turned theoretical concerns into practical action.
“What really changed the course was the collapse of CS,” she said. “People really think it’s not either/or, you really need diversification.”
Since then, Yuen has observed clients across both jurisdictions actively opening accounts on the platform in both Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Consolidation Challenge
With clients holding assets across multiple jurisdictions, custodians, and institutions, the question of how to consolidate reporting and portfolio oversight is becoming urgent. Yuen acknowledged that this remains one of the industry’s most significant pain points.
“I’m sure everybody understands the pain points of clients coming with different statements,” she said.
Endowus is attempting to address this through technology. Yuen described a pilot project in which clients can bring their statements from external providers and have them processed through a proprietary AI-based platform to generate a consolidated view.
“As a tech platform, this is something that Endowus is really looking to crack,” she said. “Right now, we’re piloting a tool where clients can bring over their statements and we can run it through our proprietary AI-based platform to help them come up with a consolidated view. But there’s still a lot of improvements.”
The challenge, however, is not purely technical. Yuen was candid about the barriers that remain, and they are as much about human psychology as they are about software.
“Wealth is a bit unique,” she observed. “People think about data security, cyber security, privacy. While the technology will get there, the inhibiting factor is, do the clients trust the tool? Is the client willing to really open up everything?”
Her conclusion was that technology is a necessary but not sufficient condition for solving the consolidation problem. The advisory relationship, and the trust that underpins it, determines whether clients are prepared to share the comprehensive financial data that a genuinely consolidated view requires.
“I think while technology can definitely solve this, it also comes down to the relationship with the client, whether they’re willing to open up everything to you,” she said.
The Family Dimension
Yuen also brought a practical perspective on why multi-jurisdiction planning is becoming unavoidable for Greater China families. The dynamics of intergenerational wealth transfer make it a structural necessity rather than a discretionary choice.
“For Chinese families, your first generation might be Chinese citizens, the second generation might have other passports,” she explained. “So, you must have multi-jurisdiction to think about planning in terms of, how do I pass on the assets?”
The observation underscores a point that several panellists touched on: the driver of multi-hub adoption is not just geopolitical risk management or portfolio optimisation, but the lived reality of families whose members hold different citizenships, reside in different jurisdictions, and face different tax and regulatory obligations.
Growing the Pie
Yuen closed her contributions with a message that cut against the competitive framing that often characterises discussions about global booking centres. Drawing on her experience at a major technology company before entering wealth management, she argued that the industry should focus on expanding the overall opportunity rather than competing for a fixed pool of assets.
“I really wouldn’t want negative competition,” she said. “I think all jurisdictions have their strengths. As an industry, we should aim for growing the pie bigger, so we all get a bigger piece of pie, instead of trying to fight over where assets should move. I don’t think that’s super constructive.”
It was a fitting conclusion from a speaker whose own firm has bet on the complementary value of Hong Kong and Singapore rather than treating them as rivals. For an industry still adjusting to a world in which clients expect multi-jurisdictional access as standard, the collaborative approach Yuen advocates may prove not just constructive, but essential.