Singapore

Singaporeallow you to go after that biggerprize, rather than spending toomuch time chasing after the rest.”With a huge amount of wealth stillheld onshore, there is an untappedmarket available to the wealthindustry, but the challenge is inconvincing families that they needto spend a lot of money oncomplex structures and expensiveexternal advisers. Hinkley says:“Fundamentally, the private wealthindustry lacks a sales force that issufficiently skilled in selling privatewealth structures to Asian high networth families. Further, there arefew compelling motivations to setup private wealth structures inAsia, and whilst estate planning isa good reason, that is not usuallyas compelling as saving money ontaxes as in other parts of theworld.”Several firms have sought to breakin to onshore markets by strikingup strategic partnerships withonshore players. Lombard Odier,Geneva’s oldest wealth manager,announced an agreement withKasikornbank in December aimedat offering the Thai bank’s privateclients access to global investmentsolutions and wealth managementexpertise.Another route to enhancingprofitability of operations inSingapore lies in technology,argues Mehrotra, saying financialservices innovation may yet play abig part in the local wealthmanagement industry: “Theuncertainties are really aroundwhat a client of the future is goingto look like in terms of their needsand their expectations, and howagile we as an industry will be tocater to that. It will be interestingto see what traction the financialservices technologies that arestarting to play an emerging role inother wealth management centreswill have in an Asian marketplace,” he says.For now, the growth in the numberof HNWIs in Asia looks unlikely toslow, and so long as those familiescan be convinced to hold moneyoffshore even in light of a movetoward tax transparency,Singapore looks likely to thrive asa result.Steve Davies is chief executiveand senior partner of JavelinWealth Management, advisingSingapore residents, predom -inantly expatriates, on theirinvestments. He says: “Clientsbring their money to Singaporebecause they like the clarity of theplatform, and that’s somethingthat hasn’t changed in the last fiftyyears. It’s becoming a wealthmanagement centre thanks to itsvery good quality and transparentregulatory environment, with aregulator that both understandsthe market and has a clearobjective as to where it wants toposition Singapore within theglobal wealth managementindustry.”That approach by the MonetaryAuthority of Singapore may yet bethe differentiator that sets theisland city-state apart from itsrivals in the race to manage Asia’swealth.“There’s a challengein the region in termsof how much of thegrowth in the highnet worth industryis profitable. Thereare always reportsof exotic growthnumbers, butprofitability is thechallenge.”Mohit Mehrotra,Wealth Management GroupLeader, DeloitteCitywealthmag.com Citywealth magazine, July 2015 • 15