This is a sponsored article from Union Bancaire Privée.

Ted Holland
CEO Asia, Asset Management
Union Bancaire Privée

For ultra-high net worth families in Asia, the family is indeed a structure steeped in tradition, where needs can be complex and individual priorities often compete with each other. To make wealth preservation work in practice requires diligent planning, effective strategy and clear communication. This helps to deepen a shared understanding among all family members so that the way in which the allocation of assets evolves will work for everybody.

Because of the scale of the wealth involved for a number of leading Asian families, it is becoming increasingly clear that an institutional level of advice and access can deliver lasting benefits. It is simply no longer enough to follow the more traditional approach to investment with its allocation towards equities and bonds – today’s investors are looking for so much more and require a wider range of choices when shaping portfolios. This can lead to a real demand to invest in areas which were previously the exclusive preserve of major institutional investors.

With high levels of entrepreneurial drive and growing numbers of successful companies, wealth is continuing to expand in Asia. Local economies have already shown their capacity to develop dynamically and wealth management services have to match this trend. Demand for family office services will naturally follow on from the creation of family wealth and the need to look after it effectively. In addition, there is a sustained effort to attract family offices to Singapore and Hong Kong through incentive-backed initiatives such as Greater Bay Area’s Wealth Connect. Both Singapore and Hong Kong aim to become the “go to” locations for family office services with access to all the help and expertise needed to shape plans and strategies to manage the associated wealth.

Offering a real choice
While the largest single-family offices may find it easier to access a more institutional way of running their investments, this is often not possible for those who lack the capacity to employ their own team of financial professionals to carry out an analysis of the global investment universe. Individual families face choices and questions about how to respond to the challenges associated with making wealth last beyond the current generation. Is it feasible to employ and pay the required professionals “in-house”? Or is it perhaps more realistic to obtain the help of a private bank as the source of specialist advice and ongoing support in forming the family’s asset allocation strategy?

It is vital to be able to offer a real choice and not simply a series of “off the shelf” products and services. Having a specialist knowledge of Asian markets is essential too, as is the ability to give clients an attentive and highly personal service. There is an expectation among ultra-high net worth Asian families that they should have a full range of options in terms of investing their money. From direct investments to FOREX trading and hedge fund opportunities, they are eager to build financial resilience that will protect current and future generations. Making this work in practice means staying ahead of the markets and identifying the next major opportunities, while avoiding rushing into those buzzing investment spaces which may already have become too crowded to be profitable. While being careful around the hype, there is much to discover in areas such as Asia-focused logistics and infrastructure, space technology, hydrogen and healthcare.

A complete range of options
By providing a series of choices including specialist funds, FOREX, direct investments, alternatives and hedge funds, UBP is in a position to help wealthy families enhance their financial strength. The bank achieves this through its integrated business model built on a close collaboration between wealth and asset management. Offering family-office clients the access to such institutional levels of expertise, backed up by close and personal service, means that they are able to select from a complete range of options. This gives them the capacity to optimise family wealth and to draw on the resources of those whose specialist knowledge is all about making wealth last to secure the inheritance of the generations to come.

This is a sponsored article from Union Bancaire Privée.