Intense competition, a tendency for wealthy Asians to use multiple private bankers and high staff costs are likely to force consolidation in the wealth-management business in Singapore and could push operators out of business, top private bankers have warned.
Signs of competitive strain in one of Asia’s biggest wealth management hubs stand in contrast to an image of rising wealth as the number of multimillionaires grows faster in the region than elsewhere.
Bankers say that even as assets under management are growing fast in Singapore, that is not translating into profits for many banks that have rushed to Singapore to tap growing wealth. Full story
