HSBC Aims to Be Leading Asia Wealth Manager in About Five Years

(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc is targeting to become the number one wealth manager in Asia in “roughly five years” as Europe’s largest bank shifts capital to tap clients in the increasingly affluent region, according to HSBC Pinnacle Venture Chief Executive Officer Trista Sun.

“Household wealth in China has grown so rapidly, become the second largest globally,” Sun said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Monday. “And within it we see a middle class of about 340 million population, which we expect to grow to about 500 million by 2025.”

The London-based bank is pinning its future on Asia, and has outlined ambitious plans to expand in wealth management, particularly in China. It’s shifting billions of dollars to Asia and plans to hire more than 5,000 new wealth planners to grow its business over the next three to five years.

China will more than double the number of millionaires in the next five years and boost the size of the middle class by almost half, spurring consumption in the economy, according to HSBC.

HSBC has expanded its mobile personal wealth planning service to four cities in mainland China --Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

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