HONG KONG • Hong Kong’s wealth managers expect to double the money they handle over the next five years, benefitting from China’s rich looking to diversify their holdings.

Assets under management (AUM) will hit about US$2 trillion (RM8.3 trillion) by 2023, and non-banks, boutique advisors and wealth technology firms will win market share from traditional managers, Hong Kong’s Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA) said in a report published with KPMG China yesterday. Almost half the wealth will come from China, according to the survey.

Global banks are competing with local rivals in Hong Kong, which is seen as a gateway to the mainland and competes with New York as home to the most billionaires, according to the PWMA. China had just over 1.2 million millionaires in 2017 and more are being minted across Asia — almost 2,000 each day, data shows.

“There’s a lot of wealth creation in mainland China in particular, but Asia more generally,” Paul McSheaffrey, head of banking and capital markets for Hong Kong at KPMG China, said by phone. 

Asia’s wealth management industry is dominated by global banks such as UBS Group AG, Citigroup Inc and Credit Suisse Group AG, while firms including DBS Group Holdings Ltd and BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd are building up.

About 58% of wealth managers predict the industry’s AUM will grow 10% to 20% each year through 2023. — Bloomberg