Beyond China, Morgan Stanley is getting more wealth management business from rich people in Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore.
U.S.-based Morgan Stanley expects its headcount to rise by 15 percent to 20 percent this year in Singapore and Hong Kong, Vincent Chui said in an interview with «Bloomberg» on Friday in Singapore. Chui heads Morgan Stanley’s wealth management in Asia.
That would add to the roughly 100 relationship managers which the bank employed in Asia last year.
Demand From Second-Tier Cities
The New York-based firm expects rising demand from the emerging rich in China’s second-tier cities such as Xiamen, Fuzhou and Dongguan, Chui added. In the past, China’s billionaires mostly lived in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
«The quantum of growth of China’s economy is moving away from the coastal tier-one cities, to the second-tier cities. It’s just the way the economy is growing,» Chui added. «Wealth generation follows that trend.»
More Rich People
Beyond China, Morgan Stanley is getting more wealth management business from rich people in Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore, according to «Bloomberg». The bank’s assets in Asian wealth management rose at a double-digit pace last year, and may exceed that rate in 2018, he said.
Morgan Stanley is placed seventh among Asia’s 20 largest private banks, according to the «Asian Private Banker», which put its Asian assets under management at $102 billion last year.
