Newly appointed Asia head of RBC Wealth Management, Terence Chow, spoke with finews.asia about its regional strategy and described his immediate focus in three words: «growth, growth and growth»
The Canadian lender recently furthered its commitment in the region by launching its Hong Kong booking center and moving into its new local offices in Quarry Bay, a popular district for financial institutions to house back office functions, with a 10-year lease in One Taikoo Place. And in the last few months, it expanded its roster of senior private bankers with three in Hong Kong and two in Singapore.
«Our immediate focus is growth, growth and growth,» said Terence Chow, head, RBC Wealth Management – Asia, in a conversation with finews.asia. «As we head to the next calendar year, we will continue to canvas the marketplace looking for talent that is experienced in dealing with international clients and understands the markets and developments in Canada, U.S., U.K.»
Targeted Approach
RBC Wealth Management’s growth in the region is focused on delivering its value proposition to what it calls Asia’s global families – a mobile, high net worth segment – particularly those with links to the three aforementioned Anglo economies. Such families could have members living abroad, overseas business interests or foreign investments.
Although the segment may appear relatively niche, Chow noted that Hong Kong alone is home to 400,000 mostly affluent Canadians with global banking and wealth management needs.
«For RBC Wealth Management, we are not competing head on in the region with the largest players, targeting any and every client,» Chow reiterated. «[But] although our value proposition may be relatively niche, the target market is still very rich and sizeable.»
Wealth Planning Edge
One distinctive capability the bank highlighted was its wealth planning offering led by Vivian Kiang a near 20-year seasoned specialist in the field.
«We have been quite successful with supporting wealth transferal and succession planning with our clients and their families’ next generation, especially those with global roots,» Chow said, observing greater client focus on non-business areas such as stewardship or ESG-related (environmental, social and governance) principles.
While Chow may proclaim to be focused on «growth, growth and growth», he is at the same time reserved about the path and rate the bank will pursue to obtain this growth.
«[W]e are not going to colonize the Mars overnight,» he concluded. «We will grow in a manner consistent with RBC’s identity.»
