SINGAPORE (Apr 12): The top 20 private banks in Asia saw their combined assets under management (AUM) soar past the US$2 trillion ($2.6 trillion) milestone in 2017, according to data compiled by Asian Private Banker.
The private banking arm of DBS Group Holdings saw its AUM climb 33.6% y-o-y to US$108.5 billion in 2017, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation’s (OCBC) Bank of Singapore grew 25.3% y-o-y to US$99.0 billion, and United Overseas Bank (UOB) Private Bank gained 32.8% y-o-y to US$34.3 billion.
Among the top 20 private banks in Asia (excluding China onshore), DBS, Bank of Singapore, and UOB Private Bank are ranked 6th-, 8th-, and 16th-largest, respectively, in terms of assets under management.
UBS Wealth Management tops the list of the Big 20, with AUM amounting to some US$382.7 billion in 2017, up 33.6% y-o-y compared to a year ago.
LGT was the biggest mover last year, more than doubling its AUM to $63.0 billion, after completing the acquisition of ABN AMRO’s Asia and Middle East private banking business in May 2017.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management recorded the highest organic growth rate in 2017, notching up a year-on-year AUM increase of 43.7% to reach US$102.0 billion.
Total AUM for the top 20 private banks in Asia grew 29.2% y-o-y to a total of US$2.01 trillion, from US$1.55 trillion a year ago.
“Asia’s private banks benefited from a sustained market rally and robust client activity to deliver strong AUM growth and, in many cases, post record revenues,” says Sebastian Enberg, editor, Asian Private Banker.
“But, more importantly, few are resting on their laurels, as evidenced by an industry-wide push to revamp platforms and harness new technologies, and to increase assets in managed solutions to fortify against trading volatility and regulatory tightening,” he adds.
At the same time, front office hiring was muted, as the region’s top private banks shifted the focus to efficiency.
Asia’s top 20 private banks in terms of relationship manager (RM) headcount collectively increased their frontline by 7% to 5,843 employees in 2017, maintaining the growth momentum from a year ago.
UBS Wealth Management also tops the list as the biggest employer or private banks, with 1,037 client advisors or RMs in the region.
Taken together with strong AUM growth, Asia’s top 20 private banks by RM headcount registered a record-high average AUM per RM of US$341 million, representing a 14.3% y-o-y growth.
