HONG KONG’S wealth managers expect to double the money they handle over the next five years, benefiting from the mainland’s rich looking to diversify their holdings.

Assets under management will hit about US$2 trillion by 2023 and non-banks, boutique advisers and wealth technology firms will win market share from traditional managers, Hong Kong’s Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA) said in a report published with KPMG China yesterday. Almost half the wealth will come from the mainland, according to the survey.

Global banks are competing with local rivals in Hong Kong, which is seen as a gateway to the mainland and competes with New York as home to the most billionaires, according to the PWMA. The Chinese mainland had just over 1.2 million millionaires in 2017 and more are being minted across Asia — almost 2,000 each day — data from Capgemini SE show.

“There’s a lot of wealth creation on the Chinese mainland in particular, but Asia more generally,” said Paul McSheaffrey, head of banking and capital markets for Hong Kong at KPMG China. “Hong Kong, started as a wealth management center, sees itself as well-positioned to take advantage of that in terms of new wealth coming in to be managed.”

About 58 percent of wealth managers predict the industry’s assets under management will grow 10 percent to 20 percent each year through 2023, the PWMA’s survey found. Roughly 81 percent of respondents said the stock trading link, which allows investors to buy and sell mainland stocks via Hong Kong, is a key differentiator for the city. (SD-Agencies)