Standard Chartered is ripping up its old playbook as China and India’s growing ranks of rich investors demand more — and better — wealth management services.
The bank’s new strategy? Target Asia’s affluent clients to rake in $200 billion from its wealth business over the next five years.
This shift comes as wealthy Chinese and Indian clients are moving fast to protect their cash and businesses from potential trade disruptions, especially with Trump 2.0’s tariff threats looming.
Judy Hsu, StanChart’s wealth and retail banking CEO, indicated that demand for cross-border banking will jump as its Chinese clients are looking to move their businesses out of the country.
A new playbook
The bank saw assets under management from clients jumping 40% in China and 20% in India over the past year. To keep up, StanChart plans to bulk up its team of relationship managers by 50% by 2028, zeroing in on China, India, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
It’s also weighing whether to dump its low-margin consumer banking business — think credit cards and small loans — in favor of serving Asia’s ultra-rich.
It’s a page straight out of HSBC’s book. The rival has already slashed retail operations in the US and France to double down on wealth management in Asia.
It’s already looking to offload retail and wealth businesses in Botswana, Uganda, and Zambia, while simultaneously launching high-end fund products for retail clients in Dubai.
It’s working?
So StanChart is positioning itself as the bank of choice for Asia’s booming class of billionaires and millionaires. But that is no charity move. It is about the higher fees it will generate from affluent individual customers.
Investors have been loving the broad shake-up the London and Hong Kong-listed lender has put into action this year. The stock is up a surprising 47% this year, beating archrival HSBC’s paltry 18% jump.
Even HSBC’s analysts love the stock. 😛 They are among the most bullish analysts on Wall Street, predicting another 18% gain for StanChart over the next 12 months.
