Amid rising overhead costs, fee wars, and boutique wealth managers merging for the sake of staying afloat within a fragmented wealth market, what truly drives long-term growth is having the right people who can get along and deliver – not just assets, according to Yugi Lee, co-founder and CEO, Blackhorn Wealth Management.

“We have been actively looking for targets, but apart from the numbers, culture – and whether the two companies can merge – is more important than AUM,” Lee told Asian Private Banker.

Just over a year after APB reported that CTF Services, a conglomerate under the billionaire Cheng family in Hong Kong, agreed to acquire a 65% equity stake in the independent wealth manager, the firm is already looking for an acquisition target, Lee said.

The firm declined to disclose the companies it is targeting.

Looking beyond AUM

Blackhorn Wealth Management hopes to expand its client base through a future acquisition, Lee said.

“This group is quite sizable, so in terms of AUM, our focus beyond just numbers is how we can use this brand to attract external clients rather than just in-house assets,” she added.

Andy Yuen, who joined Blackhorn Wealth Management in January 2026 as chief operating officer, agreed. He told APB that any company they acquire must be a cultural fit.

“Whoever the acquisition is, they must be able to blend into our firm,” he said.

Failing to do so, he added, could result in existing or future talent departing, which would also cause clients to leave. This would hurt profitability and their current AUM, Yuen said. The firm reportedly manages over US$1 billion.

“Clients are extremely sticky with their bankers… The real question is whether, three to five years down the road, we can retain that AUM and actually grow it,” he said.

“Unless we find a target where we see real synergies and believe we can actually retain the bankers, there is no point in just buying AUM for the sake of it,” he added.

North Asia focus

Since its founding in 2021, the firm has been working more with ultra high and high net worth (U/HNW) mainland Chinese clients and onboarding relationship managers (RMs) who understand the market.

“We worked with mainly Hong Kong clients in the first few years, but I would say 40% of our clients are now from China,” Lee said.

The firm continues to see “strong interest and need” from U/HNW clients in North Asia, Yuen added, noting that while the firm has clients in Singapore, Southeast Asia, and Australia, the Greater China and North Asia market promises the most growth down the line.

The sheer wealth creation potential in Greater China means the firm is “not too worried” about the increasing competition for wallet share among external asset managers and private bankers in Asia.

“As long as we have the right bankers, there are always more than enough clients because there is continuous wealth creation in this part of the world,” he said, adding that the firm’s headcount has grown to almost 60 people.

Optimising costs

Expanding across North Asia will, however, see increased competition for talent, he added.

“North Asia has become a growth area for everyone. That’s why it’s not just MFOs and EAMs; banks are expanding too. Everyone is trying to attract the same talent pool when it comes to bankers,” Yuen said.

The firm is also exploring automation to expedite financial trades without needing more back-office staff as it onboards RMs, Lee said, adding that it hired a team of computer science graduates this year to help. 

“In the past, when we had more bankers, we needed more operations staff because trade settlement tasks were so tedious. But with automation, we believe that even with the growth of RMs, we can still manage costs,” she said.