Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Hong Kong’s super-rich need more money managers, investment specialists as crisis, evolving trends threaten talent gap: survey

Hong Kong’s super-rich need more money managers, investment specialists as crisis, evolving trends threaten talent gap: survey

Some 75 per cent of respondents point to talent gap as a challenge for Hong Kong’s wealth management industry, government council says. Hong Kong’s proximity to mainland market to underpin its future growth as the rank of super-rich Chinese swells, survey shows

Hong Kong has the second largest number of billionaires in the world and the most millionaires in the region. For all the US$3.25 trillion of investable wealth, though, the pool of money managers and investment advisers is not growing fast enough.

The talent gap is among the biggest challenges facing the city in the private wealth management industry, according to a survey conducted by the Financial Services Development Council, a government-funded body tasked with promoting the sector.

The view was expressed by 75 per cent of 250 private bankers and wealth managers it surveyed from November 11 to 26 last year, and published last week. Hong Kong had 7,604 staff in the sector in 2018, including 2,711 in customer-facing roles, the council said, citing data from the Securities and Futures Commission.

The shortage could become more acute in the coming years “given the evolving trends, and technological and regulatory contexts globally, the council said, reflecting the view of other industry participants. Anti-government protests and the coronavirus epidemic could also add the problem in the short-term.

“The social unrest has led some bankers to migrate to other countries including Singapore,” said Jerry Chang, managing director at Barons & Co, a recruiting firm. “In addition, the Covid-19 outbreak could temporarily affect Hong Kong’s ability to attract new talents.”

There was US$3.25 trillion of investable wealth sloshing in Hong Kong in 2018, with US$1.3 trillion coming from cross-border sources, according to the council’s report that cited third-party market statistics. That compares with US$1.67 trillion and $1 trillion respectively for Singapore.

The global population of high-net-worth individuals, or those with at least US$1 million of investable assets, is forecast to swell to US$91 trillion by 2023 from US$70 trillion in 2018, according to a joint report by Deutsche Bank and Oliver Wymann published in May last year.

There were more than 153,000 millionaires owning US$778 billion of wealth in Hong Kong, compared with about 125,000 with US$625 billion in Singapore, based on a CapGemini survey, the council said in its report.

“Impact of the outbreak, whilst keenly felt by us everyday, is necessarily short-term,” council chairman Laurence Li Lu-jen said by phone last week. While the talent gap is obvious in such functions as portfolio managers and investment specialists and compliance officers, Li did quantify the number needed to support the industry.

Hong Kong’s geographical proximity to mainland China will help the city retain its edge against other aspiring hubs, according to Claude Haberer, Asia chairman for the Swiss private bank Pictet. There has been no noticeable departure of talents from the city, he added.

“Finding good talent is always a challenge for our industry but the virus outbreak has not exacerbated the problem,” Haberer said. “Hong Kong people have shown that they are well-prepared, probably because of their experience with Sars” [severe acute respiratory syndrome] in 2003, he added.



Barons’s Chang said any short-term pressures in Hong Kong should not change the overall employment market for its opportunities in China, and the city’s advantages in an established legal structures, low tax rates and free and efficient financial market.

The potential establishment of a cross-boundary wealth management scheme involving Guangdong, Macau and Hong Kong within the Greater Bay Area blueprint “will be a catalyst to the further development of the wealth management industry”, the council said in its report.

The southern Guangdong province is the second-richest in China, based on 160,000 households in 2019 owning more than RMB10million of investable assets, according to a Hurun Report.

Most of the respondents in the FSDC survey were optimistic in their longer-term view of Hong Kong’s position in the industry, despite the fact that the survey was conducted at the peak of anti-government protests.

Forty-five per cent cited the availability of a wide range of investment products among the positives, while 34 per cent favoured the city for the access to mainland financial market – via stock and bond connect schemes.

“Hong Kong has always come back after every crisis,” Pictet’s Haberer said. “The outbreak may affect the city for a short while but it will not be forever. I still consider Hong Kong as a very good place to do business as it is convenient. It is close to mainland China and other parts of Asia.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
×