Avaloq, a global leader in digital banking solutions, core banking software and wealth management technology, has published The Greater Bay Area Wealth Report, which takes into account the sentiments and preferences of UHNWIs hailing from the Greater Bay Area.
The Greater Bay Area (GBA) initiative is an ambitious scheme to link the nine cities in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong and Macau into an integrated economy and world-class business hub.
The region has established itself as a key player not only in technology, manufacturing, and innovation, but also in the world’s financial markets. According to the World Economic Forum, the GBA is home to 20% of China’s ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) and high-net-worth (HNW) households. 70% of the region’s UHNW and HNW individuals have expressed strong interest in capitalizing on the GBA and increasing their investments in foreign financial products as they become available. This means that the GBA offers significant potential for financial services providers and banks wishing to take part in the incredible wealth creation that is taking place there.
Avaloq, a global leader in digital banking solutions, core banking software and wealth management technology, recently conducted a survey with affluent to UHNW individuals around their approach to wealth management, what they want most from their advisers, and what they expect in the near future. Responses from China and Hong Kong were extracted and averaged to cast a lens on investor sentiment within the GBA. The insights from this survey are aimed at helping advisers align with the key drivers impacting business development in the GBA, differing sentiments among investors in the region and how advisers can work better with them.
The survey reveals the potential opportunities and pitfalls for advisers with clients in the GBA. 78% of respondents said they feel that they control the management of their investments, but 34% of them plan to work with an adviser in the future. There is also a clear indication that investors want their advisers to provide them with a seamless digital experience, with 28% of respondents willing to drop advisers who are ‘reluctant to modernize’ or do not ‘adopt new technologies’. Adaptability is another major expectation – with almost half of investors saying they’d switch advisers if they were unable to adapt to evolving needs. 41% of investors surveyed classified their risk appetite as aggressive or very aggressive, with returns to be funneled towards goals like future healthcare needs and retirement income. There was also an overwhelming call from 91% of respondents indicating that they want to adopt portfolios to serve ESG goals, and despite increasing scrutiny, 85% of investors would even switch advisers just so they could incorporate cryptocurrency holdings into their portfolios.
There is plenty of competition within the GBA to attract investors. As more opportunities emerge, the solutions and portfolios that financial services providers and banks offer must also evolve in order to effectively compete. To stay ahead of the competition and continue to add value for their clientele, advisers need to adopt tools that can deliver clear communication, present data using visualization and animation, provide instantaneous, data-driven recommendations for a variety of scenarios, and leverage the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
View the report and find more details here.
