新加坡新瑞士Singapore 'To Become New Switzerland'

新加坡將取代瑞士成為全球財富管理中心

隨

著新加坡開始走上超越瑞士成為全球最大私人銀行中心的道路﹐財富管理公司正在加大力度網羅人才﹐以便在亞洲進行擴張。

相關報導

新加坡：世界上最富的國家
新加坡：瘋狂的財富

研究機構WealthInsight的數據表明﹐按照到2020年管理的資產規模計算﹐新加坡將取代瑞士成為全球最大的離岸財富中心。

普華永道(PwC)對財務顧問所做的另一項調查稱﹐從聲譽看﹐新加坡今年將超過瑞士。財務顧問公司Z/Yen今年3月將香港和新加坡列為排在倫敦和紐約之後的全球四大金融中心城市。和其它任何一座城市相比﹐新加坡被提到可能成為全球頂級財富管理中心的頻率更高。

European Pressphoto Agency

遊客站在新加坡濱海灣遠眺天際線。

亞 洲財富管理業務前景光明的原因一目瞭然：波士頓咨詢公司(Boston Consulting Group)的研究表明﹐截至2011年底﹐新加坡擁有全球最高的百萬富豪家庭比例﹐而香港則有最高的億萬富豪/人口比。亞太地區（日本除外）的私人財富 在2011年增加了10.7%﹐至23.7萬億美元﹐相比之下﹐北美和西歐的私人財富同期卻出現了下降。

財務顧問說﹐新加坡的低稅率﹐幣值穩定﹐企業登記註冊的效率高以及監管規定明確令其較瑞士更具吸引力。

顧問公司Scorpio Partnership的執行合伙人多維(Sebastian Dovey)說﹐無論從哪一年看﹐新加坡都處在成為頂級財富管理中心的上升路徑上。

Mediobanca Securities的高級分析師惠勒(Chris Wheeler)說﹐如果你想在全球選擇一個城市從事財富顧問業務﹐那麼非新加坡莫屬。

對總部設在瑞士的財務顧問機構來說﹐遷到新加坡的成本並不低。

多維說﹐亞洲的人才爭奪戰和房地產成本令新加坡成為世界上創建財富顧問業務最昂貴的一個城市。歐洲的成本收入比平均為73%﹐但他說新加坡的這一比例要高出10個百分點。

一家大型財富顧問公司的一位高管說﹐據他所知﹐有些財務顧問公司為了獲得市場份額不惜虧錢運營。

即 便如此﹐法國巴黎財富管理銀行(BNP Paribas Wealth Management)對MoneyBeat的姐妹刊物Financial News說﹐該行計劃在未來三到五年在亞洲增加200名私人銀行家。蘇格蘭皇家銀行(Royal Bank of Scotland)旗下私人銀行顧資(Coutts)的首席執行長譚信樂(Rory Tapner)說﹐在未來兩三年內﹐他想將亞洲一線員工的數量增加一倍。

在收購美林(Merrill Lynch)的國際財富業務之後﹐私人銀行瑞士寶盛(Julius Baer)稱亞洲是其“第二個本土市場”。該行首席執行長科拉迪(Boris Collardi)表示﹐這宗交易令寶盛在北亞和東南亞的市場份額增加了一倍。他還對一家中文報紙說﹐該行計劃在2015年前將其員工數量增加一倍以上。

那 些有大規模財富管理業務的銀行的一季度業績表明﹐在亞洲的資本投資已經產生了回報。瑞士銀行(UBS)亞太地區資金流入同比上升11%﹐在該行150億瑞 士法郎（約合160.5億美元）新財富資產淨值中佔三分之一的比重。來自歐洲客戶的資金流入下降﹐僅為11億瑞士法郎。

在瑞信(Credit Suisse)﹐其管理的亞洲理財客戶的資產同比增長21%﹐是所有地區中最強勁的。

大西洋兩岸的銀行正在裁撤其財富管理業務：摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)上個月將其歐洲財富管理業務出售給了瑞信﹐而萊斯銀行(Lloyds Banking Group)則據稱在考慮出售部分國際財富管理業務。

Sarah Krouse / Mike Foster

（Sarah Krouse是一名記者。Mike Foster是Financial News駐倫敦的副主編。）







Singapore 'To Become New Switzerland'


Wealth managers are stepping up their search for staff to expand in Asia as Singapore starts to overtake Switzerland as the world's top private banking hub.

Singapore will overtake Switzerland as the biggest offshore wealth center in terms of assets under management by 2020, according to research firm WealthInsight.

A separate survey of advisers by PwC said Singapore would leapfrog Switzerland this year in terms of reputation. A broader survey by adviser Z/Yen in March named Hong Kong and Singapore as two of the world's top four financial centers behind London and New York. Singapore was tipped for the top more frequently than any other city.

The business case for wealth management in Asia is clear: Singapore had the highest percentage of millionaire households in the world at the end of 2011, according to research from the Boston Consulting Group, and Hong Kong had the highest number of billionaires relative to the size of its population. While private wealth in the Asia-Pacific region ex-Japan increased by 10.7% to $23.7 trillion in 2011, private wealth declined in North America and Western Europe.

Advisers say Singapore's low tax rate, stable currency, efficient corporate registration and clearly defined regulation have become more attractive than Switzerland.

Sebastian Dovey, managing partner of advisory firm Scorpio Partnership, said: 'Whichever year you want to choose, Singapore is on a trajectory to get to the top.'

Chris Wheeler, senior analyst at Mediobanca Securities, said: 'If you want to be anywhere in the international wealth advisory business, you need to be in Singapore.'

For advisers based in Switzerland, the move's not a cheap one.

Mr. Dovey said the war for talent in Asia and real estate costs made Singapore one of the world's most expensive places to set up a wealth advisory business. The ratio between costs and income in Europe averaged 73%: 'But the ratio is 10 percentage points higher in Singapore,' he said.

An executive at a large wealth advisory firm said he knew of advisers 'working at a loss in the hope of getting market share'.

Even so, BNP Paribas Wealth Management plans to add 200 private bankers in Asia over the next three to five years, the firm told Financial News, MoneyBeat's sister journal. Rory Tapner, chief executive of private bank Coutts, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland, said he wanted to double his client-facing staff in Asia in the next two or three years.

Swiss bank Julius Baer calls Asia its 'second home market' after buying Merrill Lynch's international wealth business. Chief executive Boris Collardi has said the deal doubles Julius Baer's market share in north and south-east Asia and told a Chinese newspaper that the firm would more than double its staff in Asia by 2015.

First-quarter results from banks with large wealth businesses have illustrated how capital investment in Asia can pay off. Asia-Pacific flows were up 11% year-on-year at Swiss bank UBS, representing a third of the bank's Sfr15bn ($16.05bn) in net new wealth assets . Inflows from clients in Europe were lower at just Sfr 1.1bn.

At Credit Suisse, assets under management for wealth clients in Asia were up 21% year-on-year, the strongest growth of any region.

And banks on both sides of the Atlantic are pruning their wealth-management businesses: Morgan Stanley last month sold its European arm to Credit Suisse, while Lloyds Banking Group is said to be considering selling some international wealth operations.

Sarah Krouse / Mike Foster