StanChart sets $200 billion new wealth assets target, focuses on Chinese and Indian wealthy

By Lawrence White and Selena Li

LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Standard Chartered (OTC:SCBFF) (StanChart) will target $200 billion in new assets and double-digit growth in income from its wealth business over the next five years, as part of its wider strategy to shift to higher fee-earning businesses.

The Asia-focussed bank wants to expand in serving wealthy Chinese and Indian clients who have assets offshore or cross-border needs, the bank’s Wealth and Retail Banking CEO Judy Hsu told reporters on Wednesday.

StanChart’s assets under management sourced from wealthy Chinese and Indians with global needs rose by about 40% and 20%, respectively, in the 12 months ending September, its data shows.

The bank sees good growth opportunities particularly as clients look to move businesses out of China in light of tariffs threatened by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump when he returns to the White House in January, Hsu said.

“If you think about Trump 2.0, which potentially can bring on more tariffs, I think that ‘China plus one’ will gather even more momentum,” she said, referring to Chinese firms shifting manufacturing offshore to blunt the impact of U.S. trade barriers against China.

“We’re seeing a lot of our (China) onshore clients – the small and medium enterprises – looking to go outside of China.”

StanChart aims to boost its team of relationship managers by 50% by 2028, according to plans unveiled on Tuesday, as well as upgrade branches and invest in technology to win new clients.

It is beefing up relationship manager teams in markets such as India, China onshore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The bank’s new strategy expands on ambitions unveiled in October to trim its retail banking business in some markets in order to fund a $1.5 billion investment in its wealth unit, particularly targeting mass affluent customers.

The shift in focus from ordinary retail banking to more affluent clients mirrors a switch at rival HSBC, which has slashed its retail presence in markets such as the U.S. and France in recent years while investing in wealth management.

Hsu, who will move to Hong Kong from Singapore, said StanChart will continue reviewing whether to exit or scale down its consumer offerings such as credit cards and small loans, but did not say when a decision would be made or which markets might be affected.

StanChart said last month it is considering selling its wealth and retail banking operations in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia.