HSBC’s new regional head of global private banking, Tan Siew Meng, discusses wealth-creation in Asia and the opportunities that lie ahead

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Photo: Courtesy of HSBC

HSBC’s new regional head of global private banking for the Asia-Pacific, Tan Siew Meng, is bringing a fresh perspective to the banking world—and she has big plans for Asia. 

Asia is creating wealth at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world and continues to offer attractive growth opportunities underpinned by strong domestic demand, positive structural reform progress, monetary and fiscal easing, and favourable demographics. As a result, Asian businesses are resilient to cyclical volatility in the global economy.

“Wealth is growing at a single-digit rate globally, but in Asia we’re seeing double-digit growth,” says Tan Siew Meng, HSBC’s new regional head of global private banking for the Asia-Pacific.

“This accumulation of wealth is coming from entrepreneurs whose businesses are growing very well, so there’s a lot of opportunity—and it plays to our strengths.”

HSBC’s edge is a universal banking platform that leverages its dominant footprint in the region, particularly in the corporate banking world that Tan has such a deep connection to.

The group has spent close to a decade developing a culture of collaboration across its platform—retail, commercial, investment and private banking—to make sure that its group-connected clients are offered a seamless service that meets all their banking and financial needs.

“It sounds very simple, but it takes time to get it to work,” says Tan. “The goal is to make sure that we know the client as well as possible and that we’re supporting them fully.”

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Photo: Courtesy of HSBC

Part of that support means providing guidance to families, and especially the next generation.

“We are well positioned to help those first-generation entrepreneurs who need advice on how to pass on their wealth,” says Tan. “But we are also there for the family members who will inherit that wealth. Our Next Generation programme gives younger family members the opportunity to explore and debate their future roles as family leaders, and to hear from experts in family governance and succession planning while sharing their views on personal and family responsibility with their peers.”

The events are hosted at venues around the world and provide a mix of in-depth learning, networking and hospitality. They enable the younger generation to work closely with industry specialists, helping them to understand financial planning and investing, philanthropy, the dynamics of shared family wealth and longer-term issues including wealth preservation.

Bringing the younger generation into the boardroom also offers an increasingly valuable perspective given the importance of millennial consumers, social media and technology.

Technology is also helping to create a more interconnected world, which again plays to HSBC’s core strengths. With its extensive international network, HSBC connects its clients to investment and trading opportunities both domestically and across the globe.

“If you want to succeed today, you really need to have a global outlook,” says Tan. “I think this is where we are able to differentiate and offer that additional element for our client base—global experience and global connections. That’s really key.”

Perhaps the most valued quality in private banking is stability. Many banks come and go, drawn by the prospects of high growth in Asia, but none have the continued presence in the region of HSBC, which has been helping businesses and entrepreneurs succeed in the region for 152 years.

“We have a reputation of honesty and trust that we have built over many years, which I think puts us in a very strong position,” says Tan. “We have a longer-term perspective on Asia. We’ve been here so long and really understand what works in the region and what doesn’t.”


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Read more about how HSBC Private Banking supports the growth of Asian markets and the next generation. 

See also: Meet The Universal Banker