KUALA LUMPUR: Wealth management has been identified as one of the potential growing segments for the banking industry in light of the intergenerational wealth migration from baby boomers to the millennial generation.
Speaking to StarBiz, UOB Kay Hian (M) Sdn Bhd chairman David Lim Meng Hoe said it is becoming clearer that as many of the older generation passed away, their wealth would be passed down to their children.
This wealth, he emphasised, would be significant.
“The coming generations will have a strong exposure on how they want to manage their wealth and interestingly enough, they will also start to build their own wealth.
“Therefore, where all this wealth goes – that’s where the business will be,” he said after the launch of UOB Kay Hian’s (UOBKH) new private wealth centre here yesterday.
According to Lim, many individuals already possessed the basic knowledge needed on wealth management, adding that it is then up to wealth planners and advisers to provide the right ideas and services.
“Malaysia is a rich country. Yes, Singapore and Hong Kong may be on different levels, but we have many high-net-worth investors here too,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lim said the private wealth centre in Kuala Lumpur is one of the last few to be developed, adding that it is merely a glimpse on how UOBKH wants to grow – by prioritising serious investors.
He said UOBKH’s assets under management are currently in excess of RM3bil.
“In the last five years, we’ve grown between 20% and 30%, so we’re expecting to grow at about the same pace,” he said.
Its team consists of 70 private wealth advisors and 240 agents.
UOBKH have similar centres around the country including in Miri (Sarawak), Ipoh (Perak), Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) and Johor.
However, one of its best performing centres is in Penang.
“Penang is probably the biggest in terms of client base. Kuala Lumpur is still extremely competitive, it’s also one of the reasons why we have just developed a private wealth centre here,” he said.
Nevertheless, Lim is looking forward to servicing the mass affluent through the expertise of his team here.
“This centre is set to be a one-stop financial centre for an individual looking for a wide range of products. Previously, we only sold equities, now we have bonds, insurance, unit trusts foreign stocks and many others.
“We are also on the panel of 16 insurance companies, so an individual will still get to choose,” he noted.
In tandem with the new centre in Kuala Lumpur, the group has also given a name to its educational programme – Uacademy.
Lim said the investor education and capability building have been ongoing for the last 15 years and was “not something new” to them.
“We’ve always done this (education) conscientiously. At the academy we teach people about structured products and it is open to anyone, not just clients.
“We hope that with the programme, individuals will be able to make more calculated and informed decisions,” he said.
Lim said while the company acknowledged that market cycles would come and go, the group’s standard is to remain consistent and build trust through consistency.