Amid heightened geopolitical tensions and increased market volatility, high-net-worth clients from Europe and the United States are actively seeking investment and wealth management opportunities in Asia to protect their portfolios from ongoing market fluctuations.
According to a Bloomberg report, Joseph Poon, Managing Director and Global Head of Private Banking at DBS Group, stated at the Financial Times Wealth Management Forum in Singapore on the 15th that wealthy clients from Europe and the US are both looking to invest in Asian companies and interested in setting up a ‘second family office’ in Asia to enhance the flexibility and security of their asset allocation.
Poon pointed out that in the current climate of geopolitical upheaval, rising energy prices, and increasingly intertwined global capital flows, there is a much stronger sense of caution permeating the market. "Volatility is no longer just a short-term phenomenon, but a long-term characteristic of the market."
With narrowing loan spreads, DBS Group has in recent years increased its reliance on wealth management business to support overall growth. Data shows that DBS Group, together with its Singaporean banking peers, attracted about 77 billion Singapore dollars (23.93 billion Malaysian ringgit) in new net inflows from high-net-worth clients last year.