Chiara Bartoletti, vice president of the Association of Independent Wealth Managers in Singapore, spoke to finews.asia about the organization’s history and the success it has experienced via voluntary support from industry participants.

Founded in 2011, the Association of Independent Wealth Managers (AIWM) Singapore was formed as an industry advocate for independent wealth managers, including external asset managers (EAMs), family offices, banks and service providers in the city-state. It aims to promote best practices, foster collaboration and empower members through education, training and development opportunities. Today, it has over 80 active members.

In a conversation with finews.asia, vice president Chiara Bartoletti said that «no one mandated the creation of AIWM», noting that it was an initiative driven purely by industry professionals seeking to form a dedicated body to support and advocate for the sector.

«The fact that members voluntarily contribute their time and energy to the association without any direct financial gain further demonstrates the commitment within the industry to elevate standards and enhance public recognition of the independent wealth management model, promoting the concept of open architecture in wealth management, to provide truly holistic and customer-centric wealth solutions for clients,» Bartoletti added.

Industry Support

According to Bartoletti, AIWM has made a myriad of efforts to support the industry. One key role is to maintain regular dialogue with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, particularly to represent the perspectives and needs of EAMs. It has also created a platform for networking, collaboration and exchange, with an emphasis on education and training for compliance and legal matters like anti-money laundering.

«In the past year alone, we have organized over 18 events ranging from pure networking sessions to structured training workshops,» Bartoletti said. «It’s also worth noting that our compliance and regulatory update events are some of our most attended, regularly drawing over 80 participants.»

Wealth Management Outlook

In the past decade, Bartoletti observed that that Singapore's independent wealth management industry had undergone «tremendous professionalization and growth» with consolidation driving stronger and more sophisticated players. She believes that the outlook is bright with the influx of international wealth and intergenerational transfers acting as tailwinds for further growth.

But there are still challenges the industry faces.

«Initially, the industry's business model was not well understood, and this remains a challenge as misconceptions persist,» Bartoletti said. «Many still mistakenly believe that independent wealth managers operate with less regulation compared to private banks, but this is simply not true. We adhere to the same if not more rigorous standards and regulations, ensuring a high level of professionalism and reliability.»

Philanthropic Endeavors

AIWM continues to expand its activities and it began to extend to philanthropic activities in 2019. This included a #couragefund campaign to support healthcare workers affected by Covid-19 and a #feet2foster campaign to raise awareness for fostering in Singapore. A bursary initiative was also formed by eight AIWM members to support freshmen students in financial need at Singapore Management University.

And this year, AIWM will host its inaugural «Charity Pickleball Tournament» with the twofold objective of raising awareness for children in care in Singapore and funds for the children at the Marymount Center.

Across 21 children's homes in Singapore, there are about 600 younglings coming from broken homes and cases of abuse or neglect.