Asian private banking assets hit $2.01t in 2017

The world’s wealthy are increasingly turning to Asia.

The world’s ultra-wealthy are settling down in Asia as assets under management held by the region’s private banks surged past $2t mark to stand at $2.01t in 2017, according to data compiled by Asian Private Banker.

“A sustained market rally and robust client activity in 2017 translated into a year of gains for Asia’s private banks,” the report noted.

UBS Wealth Management continues to dominate the rankings of the biggest firms in terms of assets held after publicly reported figures estimate its AUM at $382.7b.

Citi and Credit Suisse Private Banking follow in with AUM at $256b and $202.1b respectively. HSBC’s private banking arm and Julius Baer complete the top 5.

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“Overall, AUM growth was underpinned by healthy NNA inflows in the Greater China market in particular and was supported by positive market performance,” the report noted. “Larger private banks benefited from account consolidation prior to the introduction of the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard in Asia in 2018.”

This comes as global high-net worth wealth is increasingly being directed to Asian markets with private banking wealth in the region surging 40.3% compared to international private banks which grew only 27.1% in 2016 to 2017.