The rising wealth management landscape in onshore Taiwan, fueled by a booming AI market and semiconductor giants, has made the region an integral component of BNP Paribas Wealth Management’s (BNP Paribas WM) Asia strategy.

The French lender is looking to grow its onshore Taiwan headcount over the next two years by hiring high-quality RMs, Kate Lin, the bank’s head of wealth management for Taiwan, told Asian Private Banker.

Since joining BNP Paribas WM in October last year, Lin has been busy connecting with clients and colleagues. “Our priority since I joined is our people because wealth management is all about people. So, I have been busy connecting with clients and employees to understand their needs – how we can help them and how we can serve the clients better together,” Lin told APB.

While Lin did not disclose the headcount of her team of relationship managers, she said she has built a seasoned team with deep Taiwan wealth market expertise to assist onshore clients.

“My ambition is to grow our Taiwan franchise and achieve a double-digit growth in our front-line capabilities in the next one to two years. But most important is that we want to hire quality relationship managers,” Lin highlighted.

Lin shared that business momentum at the French lender has been good, and the bank is continuing to deepen client relationships. “This year, we have been growing our book as well as our revenue with a very nice high double-digit [growth]. So next year, we are aiming exactly the same in terms of growing: a double-digit growth as a healthy, sustainable growth momentum for our business.”

20 years in the making…

In the onshore Taiwan market, DBS is the largest foreign bank following its acquisition of Citi’s consumer business. While UBS, HSBC and Standard Chartered also have wealth management franchises onshore, BNP Paribas WM has had a presence for more than 20 years.

“We have been serving the onshore clients for over two decades. So our onshore Taiwan setup is probably one of the most established onshore private bank setups here in Taiwan,” Lin highlighted.

“While some of our competitors have a broadened market presence here in terms of the mass affluent market, we distinguish ourselves through specialised focus in [serving] UHNW.”

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An onshore and offshore strategy

BNP Paribas WM operates in four main regions in Asia: the main private banking hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as onshore wealth management in Thailand and Taiwan.

“Taiwan is an integral part of our Asia strategy,” Lin said, adding that the French bank leverages its onshore and offshore offerings to complement each other and provide clients with more distinguished services and offerings.

“One of our advantages is that we leverage our international network capabilities, not only on the platform but also on more sophisticated product services. The uniqueness of our network advantage is that we can give access to our global platform, so we will be able to introduce a world-class product and platform to the local clients,” commented Lin.

Last month, BNP Paribas launched an equity option solution for its onshore clients. While such over-the-counter derivatives products are common in Hong Kong and Singapore, Lin said BNP Paribas is the first in the market to roll out these products for onshore wealth clients, gaining a positive traction.

“Another point to address is that we have a very close collaboration between wealth management and our corporate and institution banking division here. So, this synergy allows us to offer an institution-like service to our clients, especially [given that] Taiwan is a market that is full of entrepreneurs because more than 90% of Taiwan firms are SMEs,” Lin said.

How to navigate geopolitical tension?

One concern for many onshore Taiwan clients is the looming geopolitical tension with China. On this point, Lin noted that as clients navigate a complex global landscape, they increasingly recognise the importance of a diversified portfolio.

“The trend of multi-shoring is evident across the region, and our international network and capabilities are able to support clients in developing and managing these diversified strategies,” she said.

“Many of our clients have deep roots in Taiwan. While they are exploring global diversification opportunities, their onshore needs remain a priority. We are committed to being their trusted financial partner, providing the support and solutions they require,” she added.

AI boom

Lin highlighted that Taiwan is a huge potential wealth market for the bank, with a robust economy and many entrepreneurs. A recent UBS report fingered the island as a global hotspot for new US dollar millionaires.

In 2020, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) relaxed regulations for banks to provide a diverse range of financial products and consulting services for rich clients with over NT$100 million (US$3.1 million). Since then, the total AUM of of these customers has grown to exceed NT$1 trillion (US$32 billion) as of May.

Lin added that she feels strongly confident in the domestic market, which is benefiting from the AI boom and fuelled by semiconductor giants.

“For this year, we observe a significant growth momentum in the overall wealth management industry in Taiwan that is mainly driven by our robust economy and the surge in tech entrepreneurship. Around 70% of Taiwan’s GDP is based on exports. And our exports have a diverse foundation, including semiconductors, machinery, and electronics.”

Taiwan’s GDP in the second quarter of 2024 grew by 5.09% YoY. Taiwan’s domestic stock benchmark index, the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Stock Index (TAIEX), is up by 28% YTD.

Private banks have also been targeting Taiwan from the offshore perspective, including Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia.

Taiwan wealth market “impossible not to talk about” as AI boom fuels inflows