All articles by Farah Halime
Farah Halime
Death, taxes and compliance
Banking still dominates the headlines for the wrong reasons Government bail-outs and tax-hungry treasuries are leading regulators to crack down on fraud and money laundering Farah Halime reports that the future of tackling corruption in the banking industry is in question.
Asia-Pacific HNW pool tops 5m
New research into high net worth populations confirms that global wealth is increasing andAsia-Pacific is at the forefront of the wealth-creation race. Farah Halime analyses two new studies on high net worth individuals that attempts to gauge where Asia-Pacifics wealthy are heading.The wealth of 4.4bn adults across the globe has jumped 72% in the last decade and is forecast to grow a further 61% by 2015. Credit Suisses first Global Wealth Report predicts global wealth will reach $315trn in the next five years from $195trn in 2010.
Kleinwort Benson names ex-Lombard Odier as CEO
UK private bank Kleinwort Benson has named Sally Tennant as its new chief executive, swiping her from its Swiss rival Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch (Lombard Odier) Tennant will join Kleinwort Benson early next year following three years as chief executive of Lombard Odiers UK private banking operation
ABN AMRO and Lyxor strike hedge fund deal
ABN AMRO Private Banking has signed a deal with Lyxor Asset Management that will see the Dutch state-owned bank offer its clients hedge fund products The deal enables the bank, which has 150bn (209bn) of total assets under management, to tap Lyxors selection of hedge fund products including multi manager products both offshore and in UCITS III format within the European Union The bank said the partnership will significantly strengthen the banks offering to its 120,000 high net worth clients in Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Singapore, and the Netherlands
SocGen to double equity research coverage for HNWIs
Socit Gnrale (SocGen) Private Bank has struck an agreement with Copal Partners, a research and consultancy service, to improve the banks equity research offering for high net worth individuals (HNWIs) SocGen plans to double the coverage of equity research by its regular publications and broaden its analysis in all the regions it has a presence including the US and EMEA The banks move to strengthen advice to HNWIs is in response to an evolving market environment and clients ad-hoc requests on listed stocks
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UBS to grow UHNW assets twice as fast
UBS, the worlds third largest private bank, has revealed plans to grow assets in the ultra high net worth (UHNW) segment twice as fast as the market Josef Stadler, UBS global head for the ultra high net worth (UHNW) segment said: We are the market leader and so we command an ambition that is to grow two times the market, which is above 7% to 8% annually in terms of invested assets.
Swiss government to clamp down on banks
UBS and Credit Suisse will be forced to meet tough new capital recommendations as part of the Swiss governments crackdown on Swiss banks deemed too big to fail The countrys two top banks will have to hold 19% of risk-weighted assets, 10% of which must be in the form of common equity, or capital of the highest quality.
Asia business to skyrocket as JPMorgan eyes tripling assets
JPMorgan intends to triple private banking assets in Asia over the next five years, to tap into its fastest-growing market The banks chief executive, Douglas Wurth, said the bank plans to generate about 50% of its non-US business from Asia, up from 20% JPMorgan will also expand its services to high net worth individuals (HWNIs), or to people with investible assets of $1m or more, from ultra high net worth individuals, or those with at least $30m in assets
Number of European millionaires jumps 6%, but below 2008 level
The number of high net worth individuals (HWNIs) in the European Union (EU) grew by 6% in 2009 to reach 2,718,000 at the beginning of 2010 The Dimension of Wealth 2010 report by strategy consultants MDRC, said the rise in numbers is due to an increase in asset values in existing investments rather than new wealth creation
India and HK drive HNWI growth in Asia-Pacific
India and Hong Kong witnessed the biggest growth of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Asia-Pacific in 2009, reversing losses made at the height of the downturn The 2010 Merrill LynchCapgemini Asia-Pacific Wealth report said the two economies experienced the strongest HNWI population growth (Hong Kong 104.4% and India 50.9%), followed by Taiwan (42.3%)