Four private banking CEOs – arguably the most powerful women and men in the industry – kick-start the day’s proceedings with a candid conversation about the Three P’s of Private Banking in Asia – Pricing, Product, and Platform. Which of these do private banks wish to differentiate themselves by? Are Product and Platform the only sustainable differentiators? If so, are advisors the unsung heroes at private banks? Do the current models for remuneration and reward support the crucial role advisors play at private banks?

Francesco de Ferrari
Managing Director, Head of Private
Banking Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse

Rajesh Malkani
Head of Private Bank – East
Standard Chartered Bank

Ravi Raju
Head of Asset & Wealth Management
Asia Pacific, Deutsche Bank

Stephan Repkow
CEO
UBP Private Banking Asia

Dr Mohammed Apabhai
Director
Head of Asia Pacific Trading Strategies, Citi

Bernard Wai
Managing Director
Head of Asia Pacific Private Client Solutions
Investor Sales, Citi

Whilst fixed income and equities have posted healthy returns over the last few years, the average Asian HNWI remains heavily invested in cash and fixed income. In this session, M&G will discuss why we believe behavioral biases have a significant and persistent presence in the client-advisor relationship and the impact this has on asset allocation in portfolios.

Ben Cherrington
Director, Intermediary Channels,
Asia Pacific, M&G Investments Asia

In recent court cases dealing with mis-selling claims, the courts have generally found that clients are bound by the contracts they enter into with the bank and that regulatory standards could not impose a contractual duty which was not specified in the contractual documentation. Nevertheless, regulators have shown more willingness to step into disputes regardless of contractual terms, and to allow clients to use alleged breach of regulatory duties to support their financial claims against banks. This development could fundamentally affect the relationship between banks and their clients.

Paul Landless
Partner, Finance
Clifford Chance Singapore

Kabir Singh
Counsel, Arbitration & Disputes Resolution,
Clifford Chance Singapore

• Some of the benefits and challenges of creating an enhanced discretionary management using third party managers
• How to create an integrated platform that aligns discretionary models with house views
• Disengaging the advice from the brand

He will also outline the benefits that come from bridging the gap between institutional asset management and private banking minimums and why this needs to happen in the Asian Private Banking market.

Alex Buerge
Head of Investments, Managed Investments
Asia Pacific, BNY Mellon

Moderator:
Bernard Wai
Managing Director and Head of APAC Private
Client Solutions, Citi Markets

Roundtable B. | Case study: Outsourcing fixed income decisions as a time saver
Following up from the morning session, M&G will highlight our approach to help private banking clients address the asset allocation issues by using broad, flexible bond funds. Fixed income is a mainstay in many portfolios, but with the long bull market coming to a close, returns will be relatively scarce compared to the time invested in looking after them. We’ll go through a case study of an ideal core fixed income holding and how this can help to re-prioritise private bankers’ efforts addressing behavioural biases.

Moderator:
Jeik Sohn
Relationship Manager and Fund Specialist
M&G Investments Asia

Roundtable C. | Revival of interest in Hedge Funds – what is different this time?
In a recent global industry survey, the returns of hedge funds were found to have either met or exceeded investors’ expectations. Investors’ level of satisfaction is currently as its highest since 2008.

The reasons behind this revival stem from a more stable trading environment and high policy dispersion among countries, which open up bottom up and top down trading opportunities that are favourable to hedge fund managers.

With the return of Private Banking clients’ appetite for hedge fund strategies, Lyxor will discuss the different types of investment strategies that could benefit from the current backdrop and share what investors look out for when considering hedge fund investments.

Moderator:
Jessie Zhang
Head of Business Development
Greater China and SEA, Lyxor Asset Management

Roundtable D. | Great Ideas are 90% of the work. Fact or Fiction?
Investment Advisory and Execution desks deal with a myriad of ideas from internal & external product providers & research teams. They in turn share these in the form of emails and pdf attachments to RMs each day and receive phone calls for best quotes, indications, and trade executions.

Is this modus operandi working in today’s environment?

Do RMs have a clear call to action?

Can we measure the ROI of an idea in Private Banking today?

This roundtable will explore the topic and discuss new innovations that produce quick wins for clients, RMs and investment advisors.

Moderator:
Andrew Au
Chief Executive Officer, AGDelta