StanChart: UAE Becoming Important Wealth Contributor
The wealth management unit of Standard Chartered has ambitious asset and income goals. In a conversation with finews.asia, its business head spoke about the progress thus far and the increasingly greater role that the Middle East will play.
In December last year, Standard Chartered announced its target of attracting $200 billion of net new money over the next five years for its wealth management unit. During this period, it will also aim to achieve a double-digit compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for income from its wealth solutions while investing $1.5 billion in the business.
The bank’s wealth business covers a full range of clients including not only mass retail but also the affluent, high net worth and ultra-high net worth segments through its Priority, Priority Private and Private Bank units, respectively. In the first quarter, it attracted $13 billion of new money with total assets under management (AUM) reaching $389 billion.
«Net new money for our affluent business largely comes from the Private and Priority Private segments. Hong Kong and Singapore are our two biggest markets and they contribute around 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively,» said Samir Subberwal, global head, wealth solutions, deposits and mortgages, and chief client officer, Standard Chartered, in an interview with finews.asia. «Onshore, Taiwan, China and India are also big markets for us.»
Growth Opportunity in the Middle East
One of the key market corridors named as part of the bank’s strategy is the UAE which is known for inflows not only from the Middle East and North Africa region but also from South Asia, most notably from non-resident Indians. Moving forward, the Middle Eastern hub is expected to play a more prominent role for the bank.
«We are focusing a lot more on the UAE which is becoming an important contributor. Our ambition is certainly to grow in the UAE so we are investing in relationship manager (RM) capacity in the Private Bank, Priority Private and Priority banking,» Subberwal underlined.
The bank does not provide breakdowns for the wealth business in the UAE but the market overall accounts for $305 million out of $5.4 billion in total operating income and $185 million out of $2.3 billion in pre-tax profit for the first three months of 2025.
Product Focus
During the first quarter, Standard Chartered also registered record performance from wealth solutions income which grew 26 percent year-on-year to $777 million.
On the double-digit CAGR goal, the bank is focusing on several areas to achieve growth. One is to encourage clients to shift towards building a core foundational portfolio, especially through its Signature CIO Funds launched in October 2022 which have reached $2.5 billion in AUM. Another is increased emphasis on alternatives, such as through its Ardian partnership announced in March which provides private banking clients with direct and co-investment private market opportunities.
«We are also having several discussions about the possibility of adding digital assets into our offering, which is another area of interest from our clients,» Subberwal shared.
Talent Targets
Of the $1.5 billion of planned investments for the wealth business, the bank said it would allocate 50 percent of the budget to people, specifying that it would aim to increase the number of RMs by 50 percent from the end of September 2024 to 2029.
«We will be focusing on investing to add relationship managers, mainly in the Private Bank and Priority Private across all booking centers. Other than RMs, we will also focus on hiring investment advisors and treasury specialists to deal with increasingly sophisticated products and payoff structures,» Subberwal said.
Tech Upgrades
In addition, the bank is allocating 25 percent to digital and technology, alongside 25 percent to brand, marketing and client centers.
«In technology, we continue to roll out our two platforms in more markets - myWealthAdvisor, an investment planning tool that combines our CIO house view and expert insights, as well as myRM, a chat solution that connects clients to relationship managers 24/7. We also continue to invest in enhancing our wealth product platform across all asset classes,» Subberwal explained.
Macro Risks
Standard Chartered’s path to achieving its target will not be without hurdles such as geopolitical risks. In the latest, the escalating trade war triggered by US President Donald Trump has caused greater worries and market volatility. The bank's global CEO Bill Winters flagged the risk, upping a non-linearity charge by $23 million to $66 millionupping a non-linearity charge by $23 million to $66 million to reflect an increased probability of a «Global Trade and Geopolitical Trade Tensions» scenario.
«The trade war has undoubtedly caused more uncertainty for the business and we have taken several measures in response. In particular, we’ve been actively engaging clients with a focus on diversification and helping clients with their wealth lending portfolios,» Subberwal highlighted.
