Citibank Taiwan yesterday launched a new wealth management proposition aimed at affluent customers who have NT$30 million (US$1.03 million) in assets under the bank’s management.
The new business came after global wealth surveys suggested that the number of high net worth individuals in Taiwan may grow by 15 percent to 20 percent over the next three to five years.
MILESTONE
The combined wealth of the Asia-Pacific region’s most affluent people is estimated to grow at an annual rate of 12.8 percent by 2013, surpassing the global average of 8.1 percent, the -Capgemini-Merrill Lynch Wealth Report showed.
“The launch of the new service marks a major milestone for Citibank Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole,” Salman Haider, region head of Citigold private client in Asia- Pacific, said yesterday.
DRIVER
The Asia-Pacific region, which is growing at a faster rate than other global economies, is expected to be one of the strongest drivers of global wealth in the coming years, and Taiwan is a significant market in that region, Haider said.
In addition to Taiwan, Citibank’s new wealth management services are also available to customers in Hong Kong, Singapore and China, Haider said.
The bank is also planning to expand the wealth management service to clients in India, South Korea and Japan by the end of the year, Haider said.
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Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained
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