[SINGAPORE] Bursa-listed Hong Leong Bank (HLB) – a subsidiary of Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan’s Hong Leong Financial Group (HLFG) – on Monday (May 26) announced it has formed a strategic alliance with Swiss private bank Lombard Odier.
Quek is chairman of both HLFG and HLB, which are part of Malaysia’s Hong Leong Group that he founded together with Kwek Hong Png – the father of City Developments chairman Kwek Leng Beng.
Quek and Kwek Leng Beng are cousins. The Quek/Kwek family is one of the richest clans in Singapore and Malaysia.
Geneva-headquartered Lombard Odier is a global wealth and asset manager with a nearly 230-year history.
Jeffery Yap, managing director and head of regional wealth management at HLB, marks this as a “pivotal moment” in private banking, particularly in significant markets such as Malaysia and Singapore.
With the partnership welding Lombard Odier’s global perspectives with HLB’s knowledge of Asian markets, HLB also announces its enhanced HLB Private Bank services in the region.
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This allows the bank to provide a “sophisticated and deeply personalised client experience”.
Clients will also be offered bespoke advisory services such as “Red Carpet Advisory” and “Discretionary Portfolio Management”.
Kevin Lam, group managing director and CEO of HLB, said: “Singapore, a pivotal wealth hub in a continent experiencing unprecedented growth in affluence, presents a unique opportunity.”
Lam added that the alliance provides HLB with the opportunity to elevate its private bank offering in the region.
“Together, we are charting a course for enduring wealth, providing our discerning clients in Singapore and the region with access to world-class expertise,” Lam said.
Besides Singapore and Malaysia, HLB also has operations in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The alliance comes with the wealth expansion seen in Asia-Pacific markets, and is one of the many that Lombard Odier has been establishing throughout Asia recently.
The private Swiss bank’s ecosystem of strategic alliances includes those with financial institutions in Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.
With a significant influx of high net worth individuals (HNWI) and doubling private assets in the region, demand is evolving in the rapidly growing market.
Hubert Keller, senior managing partner for Lombard Odier, said: “We are increasingly seeing significant growth opportunities in the Asia domestic markets: a clear upward trajectory in the demand and appetite for tailored wealth management, and a need for banks to meet client demands in accessing global investment opportunities onshore.”
Lombard Odier also sees that a defining feature of private banking in Asia will be a mix of both onshore and offshore services.
This is in line with their strategy to collaborate with leading domestic financial institutions in the region.
“We believe in working with the right partners who share our vision of the future of wealth and asset management,” said Vincent Magnenat, Asia group regional head and global head of strategies alliances of Lombard Odier. “In HLB, we see a strong alignment on all fronts,” he added.
