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Singapore Private Banking: Clients Prefer ´´Self-Directed´´ Investment

Every savvy investor knows that even the most trusted private bank is prone to plugging its own products. While some private banking clients are happy to take a back seat, more and more are looking to direct their own investments, and take responsibility for risks. This is the message coming from Singapore private banking investors, according to delegates at the Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit held this 5-7th October in international financial centres worldwide.

Singapore Private Banking - Clients Like To Be In The Driving Seat

Excellent financial advice equals financial peace of mind, ideally HNWI´s can invest in creating a secure and comfortable future for themselves and their families - but even investing with notable global private banks might not fulfill that need. Fortunately, by the end of this article you will know exactly how to get private banking that´s not fueled by over-priced, under-performing products.

According to analysts, big banks like UBS are not operating the correct business model, particularly within the Asian market. A focus on product sales rather than improving advice and portfolio performance leads to a failure to build long-term client relationships.

“The challenge is to provide real quality advice that will make the difference,” says Justin Ong, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Asia Pacific wealth management in Singapore.

Instead, offshore private banking needs to put more resources into providing top notch trust and estate planning services, a market with great potential for growth as first generation Asian entrepreneurs age, analysts say.

“The challenge is to provide real quality advice that will make the difference,” said Ong.

Additionally Asian clients are looking to make their own decisions regarding FX and the stockmarkets.

“It is very common for us in Asia to have a client who is CEO of a large corporation or a billionaire who takes personal decisions in FX or trades FX actively or trades fixed-income or whatever he is investing in,” said Debashish Dutta Gupta, Citigroup head of investments for Asia-Pacific wealth management.

More standalone, streamlined private banking services are popping up to fill the demand. One example is Capital Conservator, which offers private bank accounts in multiple-currencies with trading facilities, promising total privacy and total investor control. An important benefit is that Capital Conservator does not sell any of its own investment products, leaving the focus on pure banking. With a reasonable 1% entry rate, this self-directed private bank account, may well be the future of private banking.