HSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars per year over the next five years to boost its wealth management business in Taiwan, with plans to hire at least 300 financial planners, the bank said on Thursday.
The expansion is part of a plan announced last month by London-headquartered parent company, HSBC Holdings PLC, to invest US$3.5 billion in its wealth management services in Asia, with an aim to become a leading wealth bank.
“The local market presents ample opportunity for the wealth management business,” HSBC Taiwan retail banking and wealth management head Linda Yip (葉清玉) told the Taipei Times at a media briefing in Taipei.
Photo: Reuters
The plan comes as the nation’s GDP growth has outperformed neighboring countries in the past few years, with mild inflation, which led Taiwan to ranking fourth in purchasing power parity in Asia, after Macau, Singapore and Hong Kong, she said.
“It suggested that Taiwanese on average have more idle money to invest after buying necessities, compared with those in Japan and South Korea, which means more business opportunity for us,” she said.
HSBC Taiwan predicted that the number of premier customers, which the bank defined as those with assets of more than NT$10 million (US$351,333), to rise more than 20 percent in the next five years, as many affluent customers, those with assets of more than NT$3 million, are soon expected to reach the NT$10 million threshold, Yip said.
“Taiwanese have the entrepreneurship spirit. Many start their own businesses after working at a firm for a while, and many succeed in accumulating wealth through their businesses. Our customers’ businesses are quite diverse, ranging from trade to technology,” she said.
HSBC Taiwan would recruit at least 300 customer-facing employees, including financial planners and customer relationship managers, to support its customers, while it would vet job applicants carefully after a surge of reports of employees at other banks stealing money from customers last year, she said.
“Our rewards policy is very balanced. We encourage financial planners to provide the products that meet customers’ demands and risk appetite, not those with higher commissions. We also educate our customers not to share their stamps or bankbooks with others,” she said.
The bank aims to grow its assets under management faster than the market, which would require customers’ trust and the bank offering good financial planning, Yip said.
Its premier customers are expected to contribute to growth momentum for its asset under management, but the bank would not ignore younger customers with savings of more than NT$500,000 with the bank, she said.
The bank would also improve its digital investment platform for the customers, she added.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) have repeatedly hit new highs, but an equity analyst said the stock’s valuation remains within a reasonable range and any pullback would likely be technical. The contract chipmaker’s historical price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has ranged between 20 and 30, Cathay Futures Consultant Co (國泰證期) analyst Tsai Ming-han (蔡明翰) told Central News Agency. With market consensus projecting that TSMC would post earnings per share of about NT$100 (US$3.17) this year, supported by strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and the stock currently trading at a P/E ratio of below 25, Tsai said the valuation
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
RSS