Small banks prey on bad advice
(19 February 2010 – Asia) Asia’s private banking industry has seen the entry of several new boutique banks all hoping to benefit from the dissatisfaction wealthy clients feel towards their larger banking counterparts.
A cluster of small private banks and advisors have set up in Hong Kong in an effort to snag market share from the larger investment banks, as many clients leave over advice received during the global financial crisis, The Australian newspaper reported.
Founder of Hoffman & Partners Wealth Management, Urs Brutsch, said that the timing for smaller private banks has never been better.
Mr Brutsch started up his Asia focused firm, after himself and several other colleagues defected Clariden Leu, a unit of Credit Suisse.
However, Mr Brutsch would not comment on how many of his former clients from the investment bank have joined him at his new venture.
The banks have screwed up quite a bit in the last few years, and independence has never had more value, Mr Brutsch said.
According to a 2009 report released by Merrill Lynch Global Weatlh Management and consulting firm Capgemini, at the end of 2008, assets of high-net-worth individuals in Hong Kong had plunged around 65 percent, to US$181 billion (A$201 billion) total.
Despite the plunge in assets Asia today represents the biggest growth market for wealth managers. The high-net-worth populations in China and India will nearly triple in the decade ending in 2018, adding about US$4 trillion in individual wealth, according to the Merrill Lynch/Capgemini study.
Founder of Hoffman & Partners Wealth Management, Urs Brutsch, said that the timing for smaller private banks has never been better.
Mr Brutsch started up his Asia focused firm, after himself and several other colleagues defected Clariden Leu, a unit of Credit Suisse.
However, Mr Brutsch would not comment on how many of his former clients from the investment bank have joined him at his new venture.
The banks have screwed up quite a bit in the last few years, and independence has never had more value, Mr Brutsch said.
According to a 2009 report released by Merrill Lynch Global Weatlh Management and consulting firm Capgemini, at the end of 2008, assets of high-net-worth individuals in Hong Kong had plunged around 65 percent, to US$181 billion (A$201 billion) total.
Despite the plunge in assets Asia today represents the biggest growth market for wealth managers. The high-net-worth populations in China and India will nearly triple in the decade ending in 2018, adding about US$4 trillion in individual wealth, according to the Merrill Lynch/Capgemini study.