Having established a presence in Taiwan with its traditional fixed income offerings, Barings is now keen to push its private markets capabilities in Taiwan’s growing high net worth (HNW) market, propelled along by a series of regulatory advancements.

Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Asset Management Hub, which was officially launched in July this year, is an enhancement and upgrade to Taiwan’s Wealth Management 2.0, according to Barry Lin, Baring SICE (Taiwan) Limited.

One of the more important regulatory relaxations in this pilot zone is allowing asset managers to tap multiple distributors to distribute an individual unauthorised fund, including private market alternative strategies, Lin shared with Asian Private Banker in a recent interview. Wealth Management 2.0 only allowed for one exclusive distributor per fund, he explained.

Apart from product offerings, the pilot zone also supports the development of family offices. Lin pointed out that the external asset management (EAM) business is relevant to Barings, and the firm will be able to customise investment portfolios of different underlying assets for clients based on their risk appetites.

Barings is among the six asset managers that have received regulatory green light to operate in the zone. It is also one of three firms that were approved to conduct EAM-related investment consultancy businesses. Lin believes that the active participation of peers in the future will help to enhance the whole market ecosystem.

The firm’s decision to become one of the early movers in the pilot zone stems from its long-standing presence in the Taiwan market, as well as its global strength and capabilities in the private market, according to Lin.

“We are not starting from scratch. The product gatekeepers at banks have had a very consistent perception of Barings over the past 20 years, and they can leverage our existing relationships to speed up the due diligence process on new strategies offered by us. For us, we can get a good entry point when we are tapping a new business in the Taiwan market,” he told APB.

Taiwan also aims to attract global talent in the asset management sector. Lin shared that Barings’ local talent in Taiwan has a strong alignment with its global team “We have built up a talent pool and infrastructure to customise investment solutions for high net worth clients,” he said.

Wealth pyramid

Barings adopts a customer segmentation pyramid approach to Taiwan’s wealth market, recognisable in most markets. Ultra high net worth and family office clients typically have over US$3.5 billion in AUM in Taiwan (much lower than their UHNW peers in Hong Kong or Singapore). HNW clients’ AUM ranges from US$1 million to US$3.5 million.

Lin shared that the mass affluent segment (US$100,000 to US$1 million in AUM) has long been a target market for offshore mutual funds in Taiwan over the last two decades, while ETF products have gained explosive popularity among retail investors over the previous two to three years.

He observed that asset managers in Taiwan will either move down from the mass affluent market to the retail market, offering clients more ETF products, or move up, as Barings has chosen, to tap the HNW market.

“Our business in the mass affluent segment is in an advanced stage of development. Barings’ global strategic strength and capability in the private markets drive us to move up,” he said. As of the end of June 2025, Barings managed US$456 billion in AUM, which was split evenly between public and private assets.

Lin noted that Taiwan’s HNW clients allocate around 40%-50% of their assets to foreign currency deposits, while they also show an appetite for overseas corporate bonds, structured products, and insurance. Although alternative investments still make up just a small portion of HNW clients’ portfolios, Lin believes their role will increasingly become more important.

“I think this has now become a market consensus. Alternative investments have low correlation with the public market, offering clients decent risk-adjusted returns as well as diversification. It also provides downside mitigation amid market volatility,” he told APB.

Kaohsiung and offshore? Taiwan private bank eyes double-digit growth

A wide range of solutions

Barings has recently partnered with a Taiwanese bank to onboard its open-ended private credit strategies to target HNW clients, according to Lin.

“Alternative investment will continue to be a key pillar of Barings’ roadmap to grow in Taiwan’s wealth market,” Lin said, adding that investor education is also crucial in the process.

Apart from private credit direct lending, the firm has asset-backed finance and infrastructure strategies on its shelf. Lin said Barings is also exploring introducing its portfolio finance expertise, as well as a multi-private market strategies solution, to HNW Taiwanese clients in the future.

The firm’s private credit launch in Taiwan also builds on its reputation in the public credit space. Lin said Barings has been offering traditional fixed income products, such as senior secured bonds, high yield bonds, and broadly syndicated loans in Taiwan, and has established a strong presence in the market.

“Our platform is very comprehensive, covering both public and private credit. This gives clients strong confidence that we can provide them with a wide range of solutions. We have been enhancing the platform for the past two decades. The clearer regulatory frameworks and the gradual liberation of the market nowadays are very beneficial to our business,” Lin told APB.