HONG KONG - Noah Holdings is seeking to as much as double the number of managers it employs in Hong Kong and Singapore to look after wealthy clients and handle an increased flow of capital from mainland China.
The Shanghai-based company, which has about 150 billion yuan (S$28.8 billion) under management, plans to boost the number of relationship managers in the two financial hubs to about 150 to 200 by the end of 2024 from 100 now, chief financial officer Pan Qing said in an interview in Hong Kong.
“We’re pretty optimistic about the growth,” said Mr Pan. “We know that the economy isn’t going as fast as we wanted it to. But we believe it still has enough dynamics and a deep enough market, especially for the sector we are serving – mostly Chinese private entrepreneurs.”
About 70 per cent of the managers are in Hong Kong and the rest in Singapore, and the hires will likely follow the same split, he added.
The private bank is expanding overseas as China’s rich are looking to diversify their wealth.
Hong Kong has long been a conduit for mainland wealth, but during Covid-19 and as Beijing tightened its political grip on the city, wealthy Chinese flocked to Singapore to set up family offices.
According to Noah, Hong Kong serves as a “significant hub” for mainland investors looking to access global markets, while Singapore has been enhancing its wealth management sector through incentives and regulatory changes, which have attracted Chinese clients.
Noah is also exploring the licences needed to set up in Dubai, given interest from clients, but is being cautious as it is costly to set up new offices, said Mr Pan.
“It’s definitely one of the destinations we’re keeping a very close eye on,” said Mr Pan, adding that the company wants to make sure the demand is “sustainable”.
Noah sees a mix of demand from wealthy Chinese for onshore and offshore products. With higher US rates, there has been demand for offshore fixed-term deposits, insurance plans and money market funds, said Mr Pan.
Noah, founded in 2005 by former private banker Wang Jingbo and named after the biblical character, became the first Chinese asset manager to list shares in New York in 2010.
In 2019, the company was roiled by the collapse of Camsing International Holding, which left investors who bought credit products linked to the latter with losses. In 2020, Noah offered a share handout to settle with investors.
According to Mr Pan, the company has stopped selling such products and has reached a settlement with investors in relation to Camsing.
The wealth manager has also been consolidating its operations from around 44 cities to 25 cities, as the company shuts branches in third- and fourth-tier cities to focus on bigger cities, according to Mr Pan.
As at the end of 2023, the number of domestic relationship managers slid by 7.6 per cent year on year to 1,163, according to a transcript of the company’s most recent earnings call.
“I think the strategy has shifted a little bit from the past,” said Mr Pan. “Our clients moved their family to first-tier cities because of education.” BLOOMBERG
