Asia’s high net worth individuals are getting rich quicker than those elsewhere in the world due to wealth management, which has never been so competitive in the region but is now providing good opportunities for bankers. A few years back private banking was synonymous with hiding money, but now this has completely changed. Private banking now is about making returns and finding solutions. Behind these new challenges and dramatic changes lies a fundamental shift in the private banking business model. From being of a peripheral importance to many wholesale and retail banking organizations, it has become a core strategic business unit.

Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Although China and Korea remain closed markets, their growth potential is too huge to be ignored. China is already the single biggest wealth market in Asia outside Japan, with assets of $500 bn, and Korea is not too far behind. Once these countries float their currencies and allow their citizens to hold assets in foreign currencies, growth will be tremendous. Even though growth potential is unlimited, reaping benefits is also not so easy. So, what are the challenges private bankers are facing to cater to the rich and how are they going about it? Promising potential Over the past few years, growth in the Asia-Pacific private wealth market has been relatively flat because of sluggish economic conditions as well as many external and geopolitical factors such as the dotcom meltdown, the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, 9/11 and the war on terror, the SARS crisis and the Iraq war.
“Looking ahead, according to industry projections, the Asia-Pacific private wealth market is estimated to grow at about 10% per annum for the next three to five years,” says Sharma. He adds, “We think this is a conservative estimate. Higher double-digit rates could be expected in light of improved economic conditions as well as new opportunities and
markets for private wealth such as Korea, India and China.”