Is the Asian wealth race shifting away from Singapore and Hong Kong?

Wealth managers are shifting to cities like Jakarta, Shanghai and Manila.

Bloomberg reports that the dominance of Singapore and Hong Kong as offshore wealth hubs may soon be challenged as wealth managers are increasingly turning to onshore Asian markets like Jakarta, Manila and Shanghai where the booming surge in ultra rich population pose a massive opportunity. 

Private banks aiming to cash in on Asia’s growing onshore wealth need to think less about regional asset totals and more about accumulating a critical mass of wealth in the individual Asian countries, according to Francesco de Ferrari, head of Asia-Pacific private banking at Credit Suisse Group AG as it aims to hit at least $10b in each of its 11 key markets across Asia.

Total wealth assets in onshore Asian markets are expected to grow at an average of 10% annually in the eight years to 2025, according to management consultancy firm McKinsey & Co., whilst offshore wealth like those in Singapore and Hong Kong are expected to grow by around 6 to 7% over the same period.

De Ferrari said that his bank has already been moving towards the shift as he claims that the bank’s assets in onshore markets tripled after it set up an onshore wealth team in Manila and Bangkok a few years ago.

Also read: Hong Kong is the world's fourth most secretive financial center

Hong Kong trails just behind Switzerland to nab the second place in the global offshore wealth rankings by Boston Consulting Group. The SAR manages assets around US$1.1t in offshore wealth, putting it prime position to beat Singapore, US and UAE which manage US$0.9t, US$0.7t and US$0.5t in offshore wealth respectively.

Here’s more Bloomberg: