As financial services firms tap into Silicon Valley's emerging virtual reality, HSBC Holdings has developed a fund to collect investment opportunities in the metaverse for its wealthy clients in Hong Kong and Singapore.
HSBC's Metaverse Discretionary Strategy portfolio, administered by its financial advisory unit, will focus on investing in the metaverse ecosystem within five segments: computing, infrastructure, virtualization, experience and discovery, and interface, according to a statement released yesterday.
Users can work, interact, and play in the metaverse, which is a network of virtual spaces accessible via various devices. Video calling, simulations like Minecraft or Roblox, cryptos, emailing, augmented worlds, social media, and live-streaming are all examples of digital technologies used in the metaverse.
"While still in its early stages, the metaverse ecosystem is fast expanding," said Lina Lim, HSBC's Asia Pacific regional director of funds and discretionary for investments and asset solutions.
Since Facebook modified its brand to Meta last year to symbolize its bet on the sector, it has become more prominent.
"We see a lot of intriguing prospects in this market, as organizations of all sizes and backgrounds are rushing in," Lim added.
The discretionary portfolio was created for HSBC's high net worth and ultra-high net value skilled clients, as well as accredited shareholder clients in Hong Kong and Singapore, according to the bank.
HSBC announced last month that it was purchasing digital real estate in an online gaming environment, becoming the second big bank to do so after JPMorgan established a position in blockchain-based Decentraland.
In order to achieve its goal of being Asia's top wealth manager by 2025, HSBC is investing $3.5 billion in its asset and personal banking operations.
As countries like China and India produce additional billionaires and millionaires, global wealth supervisors such as UBS and Credit Suisse have been increasing manpower in Asia.
Last month, HSBC joined Wall Street titan JPMorgan Chase & Co. in slowly immersing their company into the virtual realm by purchasing a site focused on sports, electronic sports, and gaming fans.
Even though Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn has stated that the bank has no plans to launch a crypto exchange desk or sell virtual currencies as an asset to consumers, the bank is moving forward in the crypto and blockchain environment.
The metaverse, according to Nicholas Dowell, portfolio manager at HSBC Asset Management in London, is considered by many as the next stage in the progression of the internet.
