Asia wealth firms target doubling of assets under management to US$260 trillion by 2026

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About 11 per cent of Asian high-net-worth clients’ assets are currently invested outside their home markets

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Asia wealth management firms have ambitions to double assets under management to almost US$260 trillion by 2026 from last year’s levels, according an Accenture report. Photo: Shutterstock

Enoch Yiu

Published: 8:00am, 25 Jul 2024

Asian wealth management firms aim to double assets under management to US$260 trillion by 2026 from last year’s levels, propelled by a surge in the number of rich individuals in the region who are driving a surge in cross-border investment demand, a report from consulting firm Accenture said on Thursday.

The report is based on a survey results of more than 4,500 investors, 650 relationship managers, and 16 interviews with senior executives of wealth firms across 10 Asia-Pacific markets in December and January. The markets include Hong Kong, mainland China, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

According to the report, about 11 per cent of Asian high-net-worth clients’ assets are currently invested outside their home markets to harvest the benefits of diversification, while 60 per cent of these clients chose their wealth managers based on their capabilities in offshore investing.

A separate report by Swiss lender UBS issued earlier this month said wealth in the region has grown by nearly 177 per cent since 2008, making it the world’s fastest growing region in that context. The Americas came in second at nearly 146 per cent, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa saw the slowest growth at 44 per cent, the UBS report said.

To leverage this demand for investment diversification, firms are targeting high-net-worth individuals with more than US$1 million in investible assets each, according to the third edition of Accenture’s Future of Asia Wealth Management report released on Thursday.

“We are focused on bringing our unique value proposition to serve the wealth needs of global clients, notably through our wealth presence across 25 markets and a network of four wealth hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Jersey to fulfil clients’ cross-border wealth needs,” Samir Subberwal, global head of wealth solutions, deposits and mortgages at Standard Chartered, said in the report.