Standard Chartered opens wealth centres in Hong Kong

Standard Chartered is expanding its wealth management services in Hong Kong. The bank is planning to open a new wealth management centre in Central later this year. This comes as part of a strategy to cater to the region's wealthy population. Stephen Man Wai-shing, head of wealth and retail banking at Standard Chartered Hong Kong, announced the plan during the launch of their fifth wealth centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. This new centre aims to serve affluent local, cross-border, and international clients. Man also mentioned that future centres may open in areas like Causeway Bay. The bank's wealth management services have seen strong growth, contributing to a 21% increase in profits for 2024. The group CEO, Bill Winters, has set an ambitious goal to attract $200 billion in wealth management business from new affluent clients worldwide over the next five years. In addition to wealth management, Standard Chartered is focusing on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong. The bank is collaborating with Cainiao, a logistics provider linked to Alibaba. This partnership aims to make lending processes easier for SMEs using transaction data, helping to speed up credit approvals and support business growth.