The Bloomberg Wealth Asia summit returns to Hong Kong after a three-year break, bringing together the region’s leading investors, economists and money managers.
Speakers scheduled for the conference Tuesday include Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Eddie Yue, New World Development Company Ltd. CEO Adrian Cheng; and HSBC Global Private Banking and Wealth CEO Annabel Spring.
Amundi Says China Wealth Business Is Rebounding (1:30 p.m. HK)
Amundi SA’s onshore Chinese wealth management business is improving “significantly” this year after facing very challenging conditions in 2022, its local head said.
With a better regulatory environment, “we’re entering a new era with more long-term, more sustainable growth,” Greater China Chairman Zhong Xiaofeng said at the Bloomberg Wealth Asia Summit in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
The Paris-based $2.1 trillion manager is refocusing on growth in China as the country emerges from Covid challenges. Its earlier plan to more than double assets in Greater China by 2025 remains unchanged and it’s “on track” to meeting the goal, Zhong said.
Amundi managed about $120 billion in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in 2021.
Zhong said he’s also “confident” that Europe’s largest asset manager can continue to navigate new challenges in China amid rising geopolitical tensions “in a sustainable way,” after more than four decades operating in the market.
Hong Kong’s Crypto Rules Will Shun ‘Light Touch’ Approach (1:26 p.m. HK)
Hong Kong indicated that crypto companies drawn by the city’s push to create a digital-asset hub should expect an exacting regulatory regime.
“Our regulation will be tight,” Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Eddie Yue said in an interview at the Bloomberg Wealth Asia Summit on Tuesday. “We will let them create the ecosystem here and that actually brings a lot of excitement. But that doesn’t mean light-touch regulation.”
HSBC Expanding Wealth Presence (10:59 a.m. HK)
HSBC Holdings Plc is rapidly expanding its wealth business in Hong Kong, mainland China, India and Singapore, said Nuno Matos, chief executive officer for wealth and personal banking at the London-based lender. The bank is also boosting its presence in global wealth hubs including London, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, he added.
Matos said the age of low volatility is over and investors can no longer be complacent. With interest rates rising, fixed income is coming back, along with value stocks versus growth equities, he said. He sees investment opportunities in fixed income, particularly durations of around three to seven years.
“Geographically, Asia is the place to be,” Matos said.
HKMA’s Yue on Property Market (9:42 a.m. HK)
Hong Kong real estate has rebounded quite nicely and the banking system is resilient, Yue said at the conference. There may be room to increase deposit insurance and a group is studying the issue, he said.
Hong Kong is looking at expanding products in the wealth connect with mainland China, including potentially global equity products, Yue said.
The city’s economic growth may be on the high side of government estimates, Yue said.
--With assistance from Jonas Bergman, Russell Ward, Chanyaporn Chanjaroen and Zhang Dingmin.
