Standard Chartered sees affluent clients putting more money to work in Hong Kong
Standard Chartered Bank 's
Eliza Law , who sees affluent clients putting more money to work in
Hong Kong
'Our clients' interest in investing has grown,' Law, managing director and head of affluent segment and distribution, wealth and retail banking at Standard Chartered Hong Kong, said in a briefing on Thursday. 'They are keen to enhance their investment knowledge and gain access to unique products.'
First-quarter data from Standard Chartered showed the number of clients who moved up the ladder from other segments to the private-priority tier – those with assets worth more than US$1 million – surged 45 per cent from a year earlier. Other segments include priority banking, for clients with more than US$100,000 in assets, and premium banking, for those with more than US$25,000 in assets.
This client 'up-tiering' contributed to the bank's double-digit growth in the first quarter from a year ago, Law said. That trend would be a 'key source' for the bank to meet its ambitious goal of attracting US$200 billion in global wealth-management business from newly affluent people in the next five years, she added.
Greater interest in diversified investing and higher-return products, compared with time deposits, reflect how affluent clients are dealing with current economic challenges and global trade tensions.
Law said Standard Chartered offered a range of highly sophisticated products that catered to professional investors within the bank's private-priority segment. The sales volume of these products grew 2.4 times from 2023, driven by certain principal-protected structured products linked to equities and interest rates.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
13 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong to regulate ride-hailing firms as early as first half of 2026, eyes levy
Hong Kong is set to legalise ride-hailing services as early as the first half of next year, paving the way for online platform operators to compete head-on with taxis after having existed in a grey space in the city for a decade. But authorities have stressed that taxis must also be allowed to survive and that ride-hailing platforms must abide by a set of standards and responsibilities, according to a much-awaited paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Tuesday ahead of a panel discussion on Friday. Setting out the direction of the proposed legal framework governing drivers, vehicles and operators of ride-hailing platforms, the Transport and Logistics Bureau also unveiled a plan for the government to have a share of the income. A highlight of the regulatory framework is that the government plans to charge the platforms a levy on each trip, similar to that of Australia at A$1.20 (78 US cents) per hire on ride-hailing and taxi services, to compensate cabbies affected by the legalisation of online ride-sharing firms. Companies will also need to pay a platform licensing fee based on the number of vehicles they operate. Operators of ride-hailing platforms and drivers will be subject to renewable licences every five years, and vehicles annually, to prevent the speculative trading that is rampant in the taxi trade.
AllAfrica
20 minutes ago
- AllAfrica
Xi: Ready to push China-Australia relationship further
President Xi Jinping told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in their meeting in Beijing on Tuesday that China stands ready to work with Australia 'to push the bilateral relationship further.' During the meeting, Albanese raised Australia's concern about China's lack of proper notice about its warships' live fire exercise early this year. The prime minister later told journalists Xi had responded that 'China engaged in exercises, just as Australia engages in exercises.' The government's proposed sale of the lease of the Port of Darwin, now in the hands of a Chinese company, was not raised in the discussion. On Taiwan, Albanese said he had 'reaffirmed … the position of Australia in support for the status quo.' This was the fourth meeting between Xi and Albanese. The prime minister is on a six-day trip to China, accompanied by a business delegation. He is emphasising expanding trade opportunities with our biggest trading partner and attracting more Chinese tourists, whose numbers are not back to pre-pandemic levels. Albanese has come under some domestic criticism because this trip comes before he has been able to secure a meeting with United States President Donald Trump. In his opening remarks, while the media were present, Xi said the China-Australia relationship had risen 'from the setback and turned around, bringing tangible benefits to the Chinese and Australian peoples.' 'The most important thing we can learn from this is that a commitment to equal treatment, to seeking common ground while sharing differences, pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation, serves the fundamental interests of our two countries and two peoples. 'No matter how the international landscape may evolve, we should uphold this overall direction unswervingly,' he said. 'The Chinese side is ready to work with the Australian side to push the bilateral relationship further and make greater progress so as to bring better benefits to our two peoples.' Responding, Albanese noted Xi's comments 'about seeking common ground while sharing differences. That approach has indeed produced very positive benefits for both Australia and for China. 'The Australian government welcomes progress on cooperation under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which has its 10th anniversary year. As a direct result, trade is now flowing freely to the benefit of both countries and to people and businesses on both sides, and Australia will remain a strong supporter of free and fair trade.' Albanese told the media after the meeting his government's approach to the relationship was 'patient, calibrated and deliberate.' Given that one out of four Australian jobs depends on trade and given that China is overwhelmingly by far the largest trading partner that Australia has, it is very much in the interest of Australian jobs, and the Australian economy, to have a positive and constructive relationship with China. Dialogue is how we advance our interests, how we manage our differences, and we guard against misunderstanding. President Xi Jinping and I agreed dialogue must be at the centre of our relationship. We also discussed our economic relationship, which is critical to Australia. We spoke about the potential for new engagement in areas such as decarbonization. Xi did not bring up China's complaints about Australia's foreign investment regime. Albanese said he raised the issue of Australian writer Yang Jun, who is incarcerated on allegations of espionage, which are denied. Premier Li Qiang was hosting a banquet for Albanese on Tuesday night. An editorial in the state-owned China Daily praised the Albanese visit, saying it showed 'the Australian side has a clearer judgement and understanding of China than it had under previous Scott Morrison government.' 'The current momentum in the development of bilateral relations between China and Australia shows that if differences are well managed, the steady development of ties can be guaranteed , even at a time when the political landscape of the world is becoming increasingly uncertain and volatile,' the editorial said. Australian journalists had a brush with Chinese security, when they were taking shots of local sights in Beijing. Security guards surrounded them and told them to hand over their footage. The incident was resolved by Australian officials. Michelle Grattan is a professorial fellow, University of Canberra. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
South China Morning Post
43 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump claims trade deal struck with Indonesia; Bessent calls China deal timeline ‘flexible'
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration had reached a trade deal with Indonesia, while his Treasury Department chief cut China some slack on the deadline for a final deal of its own. Advertisement Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said that Indonesia would charge no tariffs on US imports, while exports from the southeast Asian country to America would be subject to a 19 per cent levy. 'They are going to pay 19 per cent and we are going to pay nothing ... we will have full access into Indonesia, and we have a couple of those deals that are going to be announced,' Trump said. On his Truth Social account, Trump called the deal a 'landmark', saying that it 'opens up Indonesia's ENTIRE MARKET to the United States for the first time in History'. 'As part of the Agreement, Indonesia has committed to purchasing $15 Billion Dollars in U.S. Energy, $4.5 Billion Dollars in American Agricultural Products, and 50 Boeing Jets, many of them 777's,' Trump wrote in his post. Advertisement 'For the first time ever, our Ranchers, Farmers, and Fishermen will have Complete and Total Access to the Indonesian Market of over 280 million people.'
