HSBC will bet on rapid wealth creation in Asia as the key driver of business growth, adding around $6 billion of additional investments over the next five years with a balance between the northern and southern regions.
Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore, Southeast Asia and India will be key drivers of growth for its Asia business in the coming years, according to HSBC APAC chief Peter Wong during an analyst call for its latest annual results.
«The key story in Asia is rapid wealth creation,» Wong said, highlighting a strong outlook for consumer spending and trade in the region. «For the majority of our markets, our history goes back 140-150 years. Therefore we know the customers, the culture, the regulators and the business flows.»
In addition to its traditional home market in Hong Kong and its increasing investments in mainland China, where the bank will look to hire more than 3,000 wealth managers, HSBC also placed a strong emphasis on the southern regions of Asia.
Spotlight in the South
South and Southeast Asia will make up $3 billion out of the total $6 billion of new investments committed to Asia in the coming five years with a focus on talent, wealth management, wholesale banking and technology.
In Singapore, it will look to increase resources after achieving double-digit growth in assets under management across its affluent segments. Wong also highlighted 20 percent growth from wholesale banking in India in the last two years and the bank’s ambitions to capture a share of wallet from the nation’s 18 million non-resident Indians.
A wealth hub for the South Asia and ASEAN market will also be established.
Asia: Mandated for Higher Profit Share
More than just a market to accelerate overall growth, HSBC’s top executives will now be mandated to increase the share of Asia as a source of its profit mix.
According to group chief Noel Quinn in an analyst call, his and chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson’s upcoming scorecards will explicitly involve the target of shifting 8 percentage points of tangible equity to Asia. The mandate also includes a 10 percentage points shift to wealth and personal banking and an approximately equivalent reduction from global banking and markets.
