Q1: How did the business perform in 2025, and what drove its growth over the past year? How has the cost-income ratio trended this year, and what were the key factors influencing it? Looking ahead, what are your main priorities and strategic plans for 2026?

We had a remarkable year in 2025, achieving many significant milestones. Despite global market volatility, we continue to see tangible results from our investments in the private bank business over the past few years, with continuous double-digit year-on-year growth in net new invested assets and in revenue. Notably, our net promoter score has reached a record high, underscoring the trust our clients place in us.

As we look toward 2026, we’ll continue our strategic growth by focusing on bringing the truly one bank solution to our UHNW and family office clients. With the successful launch of our entrepreneurial wealth proposition in key markets across Asia this year, we will continue to collaborate with the corporate and institutional banking team at HSBC to further position ourselves to serve entrepreneurs at different stages of their business and wealth journey.

We have bolstered our advisory capabilities with Prism Advisory, leveraging Aladdin Wealth technology, a risk platform from BlackRock. We have also enhanced frontline productivity by utilising our AI-powered Wealth Intelligence platform. We’ll continue to enrich our product offerings and digital capabilities to meet the evolving needs of our clients.

By leveraging the strength of our global network, we will further invest in our wealth corridors to better serve our clients’ international needs, particularly for the global Chinese and global Indian communities.

Q2: Looking at the investment outlook for 2026, which markets and asset classes are you prioritising for client portfolios to capture opportunities while managing risks? How are clients currently allocating their portfolios, and what trends are you seeing in DPM adoption and investment behaviour?

We see the year ahead as a time for recalibration for our clients and investors to strengthen their portfolios through multi-asset diversification. We maintain an overweight position on global equities as we believe the acceleration of AI adoption and monetisation will continue to support strong earnings growth.

We hold a positive view on markets such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, which complements our focus on US equities. To further enhance portfolio diversification, we stay at our overweight positions on global investment grade bonds, quality Asian and emerging market credit, gold and hedge funds, along with a core allocation to private equity, private credit and infrastructure.

We see clients are increasingly adopting DPM strategies, reflecting a growing trend towards managed solutions that allow them to leverage expertise while mitigating risks.

Q3: With artificial intelligence increasingly shaping the wealth industry, how has the firm leveraged technology and AI to transform processes and enhance value for both clients and the back office? What key technology upgrades were introduced in 2025, and what are your digital priorities for 2026 and beyond?

In the private bank business, our relationship managers remain pivotal in client engagement. However, AI will significantly enhance the productivity of our relationship managers by empowering them with advanced tools, allowing them more time to focus on relationship building and deal closure with our clients.

As mentioned above, our AI-powered Wealth Intelligence platform empowers our team with comprehensive and instant market insights and investment views prepared by our CIO and equity research team. Additionally, we introduced HSBC Productivity Suite, our in-house built GenAI tool that enables us to summarise, analyse, and enhance selected documents for daily use.

As we move into 2026, our digital priorities will centre around these AI capabilities and ensure a seamless integration into our client offerings, as we’re committed to meeting our clients’ evolving wealth needs.

Q4: With regulatory scrutiny and compliance requirements intensifying across the wealth industry, what updates can you share on how your firm is strengthening governance and compliance frameworks? How are you proactively managing risks while ensuring a seamless experience for clients?

Our ambition is more than just growth; it’s about growing responsibly. We’ve strengthened our governance and compliance framework to adapt to the increasing regulatory demands in the industry while protecting and safeguarding our clients’ interests.

Over the years, we have invested heavily in both our frontline bankers and client lifecycle management teams to ensure we meet the highest standards of service, security, and risk management across Asia.
Moving forward, we’ll focus on creating a resilient infrastructure where our relationship managers are equipped with the skills and tools necessary to navigate compliance complexities, ensuring that every client engagement is secure and efficient.

Our approach goes beyond meeting the regulatory expectations; it is also about positioning HSBC Private Bank for sustainable, safe growth in the future.

Q5: The private banking industry saw a plethora of leadership and structural changes in 2025. Looking into 2026, what are your key priorities for attracting and retaining talent across the front, middle, and back office? Are there plans for new hires in key markets?

At HSBC, we recognise that talent and the diversity of our people form the foundation of our success. We successfully attracted top talent over the past year while focusing on internal development. We have seen a significant number of promotions across North Asia and Southeast Asia in both frontline and back-office roles.

HSBC Private Bank has 12 booking centres globally. Our unique global mobility programme allows colleagues to engage in short-term assignments and learn best practices from other teams.

With our ambition to become the leading private bank in Asia, we are committed to building future-fit talent in a rapidly evolving market. We recognise that the critical skills for future leaders will include multi-jurisdictional expertise, governance, succession planning, and digital fluency. That’s why we are building the next generation of private bankers through targeted training, cross-bank mobility, and fostering a collaborative culture that nurtures talent.

We believe this will position us well to adapt to the evolving landscape of the private banking industry.