StanChart: Winning over UHNW clients with its global network and proposition

WITH the global growth in Indian wealth, Standard Chartered Private Bank is confident that it can leverage its heritage, brand presence, network and open architecture platform to offer a differentiated proposition to this segment.

Standard Chartered Private Bank’s global head of South Asia Community and regional head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Vinay Gandhi, believes that the bank’s regional footprints in corporate banking, wealth and retail banking give it a strong position to meet the needs of this community.

“Our unique combination of deep local knowledge and a global network enables us to meet the local and international wealth needs of our clients,” he says.

According to the International Monetary Fund’s 2024 World Economic Outlook, India’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.8 per cent in 2024, and is on track to becoming a US$5 trillion economy by 2027.

Gandhi attributes this growth to key factors such as consistent policy reform, political stability, a healthy financial sector as well as an increased pace of digitalisation which has boosted the service sector.

This robust growth is reflected in the strong performance of the Indian stock market, boosting investor confidence as well creating significant wealth. Notably, there were a record number of 200 Indians on Forbes’ 2024 list of billionaires, with a combined wealth of a staggering US$954 billion, up 41 per cent from US$675 billion a year ago.

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Significantly, the nation’s wealth is being generated from a more diverse range of sectors beyond telecom and energy. “We are seeing a sharp growth in startups especially in the technology and pharmaceuticals space,” Gandhi says, adding that with the current Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom, India is expected to have 250 unicorns by 2025.

Strong legacy footprint in India with seamless global coverage

Standard Chartered has been present in India since Chartered Bank opened its first branch in Kolkata on 12 April 1858. This long history has given the bank a deep understanding of India. Currently, its corporate bank is one of the largest foreign lenders in India and it has a strong retail presence in the country with over 100 branches across 43 cities. “Our heritage and local presence give us a deep understanding of the Indian market,” observes Gandhi.

To capture the growth in India, Standard Chartered has continued to invest in its private bank in the country as it remains a focal point to capture the onshore market and be the centre of excellence to service Global Indian wealth.

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The bank has plans to grow its team of relationship managers by almost 15 per cent by the end of this year. It has also added private banking centres in Kolkata and Chennai in 2023 to serve ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients, with more centres planned for 2025.

“These new centres align with the growth in wealth and increase in UHNW client penetration across multiple locations in the country. Our strategic approach is to capitalise on emerging opportunities and cater to the evolving needs of UHNW clients across India,” Gandhi says. He also notes that Standard Chartered already has presence in GIFT City and is exploring a private banking centre there to offer wealth management services.

In addition, to service the well-travelled and internationally connected Global Indian client base, Gandhi highlighted that the bank’s established presence in financial centres such as Dubai, London, Hong Kong and Singapore helps it meet its clients’ needs around the globe.

London has traditionally been attractive as a wealth hub with access to good educational and healthcare facilities as well as the presence of a large Indian diaspora, while Dubai has benefited from the economic boom in the Middle East with its pro-business environment and tax regime. Meanwhile, Singapore has been favoured for its strong and stable financial sector, multicultural composition, strategic location within Southeast Asia as well as its proximity to India.

As an example, Gandhi says that an UHNW family with a business in India, a second generation living in Dubai and the UK, and a family office setup in Singapore can be serviced seamlessly across all four locations through the bank’s network. “All of these locations are well positioned as gateways to wider regions and come with inherent advantages in terms of efficient business environments.” Gandhi says.

Best-in-class coverage and solutions for sophisticated Global Indian clients

From his experience, Gandhi notes that wealthy Indians outside of India tend to have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and are very sophisticated with complex investment needs across asset classes. Serving them requires a strong platform with diverse idea generation, efficient execution, and 24-hour trading access to global markets. With Standard Chartered Private Bank’s robust investment platform, its clients have exclusive access to a diverse list of international fund managers with strong track records.

Global Indian clients being served out of Singapore and Dubai have traditionally been very active in fixed income, foreign exchange and equity derivative products. Gandhi believes that the bank has a very strong platform for these where advisers can get live executable quotes from a multitude of counterparties and can execute the trade instantly at the most competitive pricing.

There is also a strong interest in alternative investment options. “This interest is being driven by several factors such as the desire for diversification, the potential for higher returns, and the need to preserve wealth in a rapidly changing economic landscape. Global Indian clients are looking towards more sophisticated, premium, and exclusive products that offer better returns,” Gandhi says.

Playing on the bank’s open architecture strengths, its clients have access to private markets to generate income from real estate and infrastructure assets. They can benefit from the higher-for-longer interest rate environment through their investments in floating rate private credit.

Gandhi also highlights the bank’s emphasis on a holistic portfolio approach as opposed to tactical trades. “Over the last three decades, I have noticed that some clients have been very successful in short-term tactical trades but less so in long-term strategic trades. We monitor client performance very rigorously, and regularly ask our advisers to make sure that clients’ portfolios are properly subdivided into foundation and opportunistic holdings.”

The private bank has built an experienced team of specialists with investment, wealth management, and corporate knowledge who work closely with relationship managers to serve the complex and sophisticated needs of HNW and UHNW individuals and families. These investment advisers work closely with the clients to deliver well-diversified portfolios that are positioned in line with their objectives and the bank’s Chief Investment Office’s (CIO) views.

Superior advisory with a focus on Impact Investing

Gandhi notes that Global Indians are increasingly aligning their wealth management and planning objectives with sustainable investing strategies. “For many UHNW individuals and affluent families, engaging in sustainable investing not only helps generate positive impact but is also a good diversification for their wealth portfolios,” he says.

“We are committed to strengthening our expertise in these fields and have made strategic hires to boost our wealth planning and advisory teams across our wealth hubs. We have also forged key partnerships with industry leaders in sustainability and philanthropy to deliver a strong value proposition to support our clients’ legacy goals.”

Gandhi says that the bank’s team of relationship managers and wealth specialists undergo specially curated training to equip them with skills including elements of wealth planning, philanthropy and sustainable financing such as its recent tie up with Centre of Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth, University of Zurich.

To sum it all up, Gandhi says, “Our long-standing history in India combined with our presence in key global cities as well as our client centricity give us expertise and drive to meet the needs of Indian clients across the globe.”