Even in Singapore, investment firms are looking to target Chinese entrepreneurs to bulk up their portfolios. In a recent statement by Morgan Stanley, the second largest wealth management company in the world, it was revealed that it is looking to capture a bigger share of the Chinese market who are situated in the city-state. Special attention is being given to those who are planning to set up family offices.
The wealth manager is reportedly preparing to hire some 50 more relationship managers in Singapore and Hong Kong in the next three years to support this strategy, writes International Investment. This will effectively bring Morgan Stanley's total headcount in the area to 150. The New York-based firm is bracing itself for an influx of Chinese family offices in Singapore as more of the Mainland's wealthy seek to diversify their assets and move their wealth beyond the confines of their home country.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley's Asia wealth operations head Vincent Chui said that Singapore is a key business hub for Chinese businessmen and family offices, so it only makes sense that they move their growth toward this area, as well. He adds that family offices play a major role in Southeast Asia, where many of the high net worth and super rich and their relatives need guidance and assistance in managing their money and properties. Chui also noted that the Chinese tend to prefer Singapore over Hong Kong for their family offices.
Wealth managers' presence in the establishment of a family office is essential as they can help firms through every step of the transition, from the process of launching an IPO, generating clout from the wealth and investment banking fronts, and figuring out how all of these would affect their family's needs and finances. Morgan Stanley is second in the world to UBS and manages some $2.2 trillion in assets, as of 2017 records. In 2018, the company had spearheaded over 20 IPOs for Chinese private firms, including those of Tencent Holdings and Xiaomi Corp.
