Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will reportedly double the size of its recently created Japanese unit dedicated to affluent clients.
MUFG will expand its affluent clients unit from 24 to about 50 staff, according to its head of wealth management strategy division Akiko Matsubara in an interview with «Bloomberg».
The unit was set up in April with staff located in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to target the richest 300,000 account holders of the bank. There is also a family office team with about 10 bankers serving 100 families with over 10 billion yen ($73 million) in assets each.
In addition to client-facing bankers, MUFG has about 250 staff that specialize in products and consulting services for wealth management clients and the bank is also hiring specialists in areas such as tax.
Segment Focus
According to Matsubara – an ex-UBS banker that left to join MUFG in 2019 – Japanese financial institutions «traditionally offer services and products in a uniform manner without regard to whether they are the affluent or not». The bank is now taking a different approach by personalizing its offerings for its richest retail clients, alongside accelerated digitalization.
With most wealthy Japanese being business owners in a rapidly aging country, services related to succession plans for their companies and family assets were named as drivers for MUFG’s business. The bank has also seen demand for alternatives, including private equity, and it is looking to expand the offering to include infrastructure, venture capital and real estate funds.
