THE HONGKONG and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. (HSBC) has expanded its private banking presence in the Philippines by deploying more relationship managers to service the growing wealth market.

In a statement, the global financial institution said it recruited three new relationship managers as part of HSBC Private Banking’s plans to grow its business in Asia and in the Philippines.

“We are delighted to welcome new talent to our team to serve the increasing wealth needs of our Philippines’ clients,” said Kevin Herbert, co-head for North Asia at HSBC Private Banking.

Valerie See-Tang and Janice Marie Laurel has been designated as its relationship managers in Manila. Prior to this, Ms. See-Tang was the branch head of HSBC’s Quezon City office, while Ms. Laurel was a premier team leader of HSBC Ortigas branch.

Meanwhile, Carmen Wong has joined in Hong Kong as a relationship manager for the Philippine desk. She joined the bank after being a relationship manager for the Philippine market at JPMorgan.

“Not only do we have one of the largest private banking teams supporting the Philippines market, we believe our strong business heritage, global network and experience working with families across generations, all give us a competitive edge,” Mr. Herbert added.

HSBC Private Banking said it is poised to support the growing high net worth (HNW) segment in the country as it has an onshore office in Manila working closely with the full service wealth management hubs in Hong Kong and Singapore.

According to a study conducted by ultra high net worth intelligence and data firm Wealth-X, the Philippines is one of the fastest-growing HNW countries globally, with a compounded annual growth rate of 9.4% between 2018 and 2023.

Ailene Manzano-Litonjua, HSBC Philippines’ head of private banking, said many of its entrepreneurial clients are in the process of transferring wealth and business to the next generation.

“Our extensive knowledge and experience of legacy planning and family governance is another key element of out offering that is important to Philippines clients,” she said.

Last month, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. launched its private banking services in partnership with Lombard Odier (Singapore) Ltd. to offer wealth management for individuals and families with net worth of at least P100 million. The Aboitiz-led bank said the private banking unit eyes to grow assets under management by 25% annually.

HSBC was one of the biggest foreign banks in the country as of end-2018 with assets worth P160.5 billion. It operates 10 branches in the country, three of which are HSBC Savings Bank branches. — K.A.N. Vidal

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