Barclays Private Bank sets its sights on accelerated growth in Singapore

FROM a string of senior management hires to onboarding marquee ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients, Barclays Private Bank has made great strides in the three short years since it re-entered Singapore’s private banking space in 2021. It is now in a position to build on this momentum and bolster its growth ambitions in the region.

In Singapore, the British bank’s private banking arm is focused on growing its core client segment, which includes UHNW individuals and family offices.

In doing so, Barclays Private Bank draws on its longstanding relationships with UHNW clients globally, multi-jurisdictional presence across major banking hubs, and its industry-leading investment banking capabilities.

“In the coming years, we will continue to invest in Singapore, adding to our talent pool and enhancing our product and platform capabilities to unlock growth opportunities in the region, and support cross-border connectivity across our key global corridors,” said Nitin Singh, head of Barclays Private Bank, Asia Pacific.

As a key wealth hub in Asia, Singapore plays a “strategically important” role in the firm’s global private bank and wealth management ambitions, Singh added.

“On a global level, UHNW families typically share many common characteristics, with similar needs, hopes and fears. However, there are differences observed across geographies,” said Evonne Tan, head of Barclays Private Bank, Singapore.

BT in your inbox

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign Up

Sign Up

“Typically, these tend to stem from cultural nuances, as well as differences arising from being in varying parts of the ‘life cycle of wealth’ with Western wealth being more mature.

“On that basis, we do see UHNW clients in different regions having different priorities, and therefore we do need to overlay a local lens to our service model when managing client relationships,” Tan noted.

“Another key trend in recent years is that UHNW families are becoming increasingly global and more sophisticated in their needs,” Tan added.

SEE ALSO

Bespoke solutions, global vision beyond traditional private banking are key to manage ultra wealth across borders

To meet those requirements will require more institutional and cross-border global coverage, including close collaboration with other businesses across the bank.

Said Singh: “One of the strengths of Barclays Private Bank is our strong inter-connectivity across the key financial hubs globally, with strong partnerships across our global businesses allowing us to service the evolving needs of an Asian UHNW family.”

Focus on ESG

In recent years, Barclays Private Bank has observed an increasing number of UHNW clients and family offices focus on the societal impact of their investments.

In other words, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and impact investments, are now top-of-mind for some clients, especially with the next generation.

“When we manage investment portfolios for our clients, we ensure that we incorporate ESG considerations into our investment decision-making, allowing us to manage risks and deliver successful investment outcomes for our clients,” said Tan.

ESG provides a framework that includes non-financial factors that may impact the long-term success of a company including understanding how businesses are impacting the environment, how they engage with employees, and their corporate governance structure.

“We believe ESG issues, where material, cannot be separated from investment decisions,” Tan said.

When working with clients, Barclays Private Bank employs a three-pronged approach. Firstly, there is education. This is where UHNW families grow their understanding of ESG issues and learn to navigate the field and its alphabet soup of terminologies.

Second, on ambition. Barclays Private Bank aids UHNW investors in deciding what is important not just on a portfolio and family business level, but also on a personal and family level.

Finally, there is execution – adding new investments, or converting existing ones, so that Barclays Private Bank’s clients have a portfolio of high quality, sustainable investment opportunities.

“We know often these can be a challenge to find, so we look across the full range of asset classes, notably discretionary portfolios of public market assets as well as private markets opportunities and impact investments,” Ken Sze, head of investments in Asia, said.

Award-winning services

To deliver competitive investment returns, Barclays Private Bank constructs its portfolios by assembling investment ideas through a rigorous investment process.

This is overseen by a highly experienced and stable team of portfolio managers, each averaging more than 15 years of investing experience and have spent an average of 10 years in the team, Sze said.

“Today, investment strategies in the industry are too often overly diversified whereby the overall exposure in such portfolios tends to resemble that of overpriced tracker funds,” Sze added.

“We believe our unconstrained and high-conviction approach will continue to add value to our clients’ portfolios.”

This actively managed approach encompasses a range of multi and single-asset class solutions, such as dedicated equity and fixed income strategies, and sustainable investment offerings.

Said Sze: “We conduct research and investment management in-house, including both tactical asset allocation and portfolio construction, while leveraging the global scale of Barclays Private Bank.”

More recently, Barclays Private Bank set up a discretionary portfolio management team in Singapore, aimed at broadening the bank’s investment coverage into Asia and emerging markets.

The new unit is headed by Ong Shun Wei, an experienced portfolio manager with more than 15 years of investing experience across global banks, who joined Barclays Private Bank in June.

“The discretionary portfolio management team will bring our strong global discretionary portfolio management offerings to our clients in the region,” Ong said.

“Additionally, the team will also look to launch bespoke discretionary portfolio management strategies that may be more relevant to our Asia client base.”