StanChart to expand Gulf wealth operation, boost teams for Taiwan, South-east Asia

[HONG KONG] Standard Chartered (StanChart) plans to expand its wealth management team in the Gulf nations, a top executive said, unfazed by an escalating Iran war that has prompted some wealthy clients to move their assets to other centres.

The bank is looking to add more relationship managers for wealthy individuals in Dubai and may also expand its presence in Abu Dhabi, said Raymond Ang, StanChart’s global head of private and affluent banking.

“GCC, for sure, is a white spot for us,” Ang told Reuters, without giving specific headcount or investment details. The bank’s UAE team focuses on serving wealthy non-resident Indians and Pakistanis.

StanChart, which has more than 100 private bankers and onshore retail banking relationship managers in Dubai, has recently hired two teams to cater to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) clients from Dubai and could add more bankers there, Ang said.

The Gulf expansion plan of the bank, which gets the bulk of its revenue from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, comes amid a clouded outlook for the Middle East amid the Iran war that started in February.

In the wake of US and Israeli strikes on Iran, some wealthy Asian clients sought to move assets held in Dubai closer to home, particularly to Singapore, as regional tensions grew, Reuters reported in March.

StanChart’s Ang said that the Middle East tensions have had a “negligible” impact on the bank’s wealth operations, even after the bank booked a US$190 million first-quarter credit charge related to the crisis.

Outflows of assets from the Middle East centres surged in the first month of the war, halved in the second, and have normalised since, he said, adding StanChart has also seen inflows from rivals that lack diversified wealth booking centres.

StanChart has asset booking centres in Singapore, Hong Kong, Jersey and the UAE.

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“In aggregate, we kept all of our clients’ money,” he said. “We are net beneficiaries.”

The bank’s wealth unit last week posted a record quarterly income of about US$1 billion, while net new money tripled from a year earlier to a record US$18 billion in the first three months, according to its earnings.

London-headquartered StanChart launched a plan in 2024 to bolster its wealth management business, pledging investments of US$1.5 billion to boost fee income from affluent and private banking clients.

Wealth pivot

Beyond the Gulf, Ang, who is also the bank’s head of wealth and retail banking in Greater China and North Asia, said he was looking to boost teams for growth in markets including Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand, while continuing to grow Hong Kong and Singapore.

Taiwan is a particular focus area where the bank increased relationship manager headcount by 20 to 30 per cent since late last year, he said, with the newly added roles being senior bankers as the bank pivots to wealth growth.

Malaysia is also “a big market that we want to get right”, he added, mainly growing private banking teams based in Singapore serving their needs offshore.

It is also adding about 50 private bankers in Singapore to serve wealthy Chinese clients, particularly family offices and ultra-high-net-worth clients seeking advice beyond traditional wealth products, according to Ang.

In Hong Kong, its private banker headcount roughly doubled over the past two to three years, and now the bank is seeking senior bankers with advisory capability.

In China, StanChart is shifting away from mass-market lending and towards affluent wealth management, Ang said, by withdrawing from a personal loans partnership with Ant Financial that will free up capital and resources. REUTERS