Investment management: transparency is key

IN 2017 the wealth management industry in Singapore and Asia will continue to see major changes in the investment management landscape, driven by multi-fold forces: regulatory developments, evolving client preferences, uncertainties in the financial markets intensified by the socio-political environment and the acceleration of financial technology.

All these catalysts will further speed up, on the one hand, the migration of private banking clients in Asia from a traditionally self-directed transactional investment approach to one that is increasingly portfolio management oriented; and, on the other hand, the availability of more flexible and diverse fee-based investment solutions from wealth managers.

This process has indeed been evolving globally in the past few years, albeit at varying speeds and intensities in different regions. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the global financial industry has been going through unprecedented changes driven by regulatory reforms and changing stakeholder expectations.