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* HSBC combines personal and wealth banking units
* Bank courts Chinese diaspora with expanded products
* Lender has hired 800 wealth staff in Asia in two years
By Lawrence White
LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - HSBC plans to invest
heavily in its newly combined retail and private banking
business as it targets internationally minded customers in
markets such as China, the United States and Singapore, the
unit's Chief Executive Charlie Nunn told Reuters.
Nunn, a former McKinsey consultant who joined HSBC
in 2011, was one of the biggest winners in the banking group's
latest management reshuffle, taking control of a division with
$1.4 trillion in clients' assets.
The plan is to grow in the three major markets where HSBC
has scale, namely Britain, Hong Kong and Mexico, focusing on
mortgages, wealth and insurance products, and unsecured lending
respectively.
HSBC will also target wealthier customers who travel or
invest often overseas in more than 10 markets such as China
where its share is smaller, Nunn said. He was speaking to
Reuters in the first interview by a senior HSBC executive since
the bank announced plans to cut 35,000 jobs and
restructure.
"We're in some of the fastest-growing wealth markets in the
world... the fact we now have a $1.4 trillion wealth business
should be exciting for our customers and hopefully scary for our
competitors," Nunn said.
Nunn is already making management changes.
HSBC named Kevin Martin, head of Asia Pacific retail banking
and wealth management, as the chief operating officer of the new
global wealth and personal banking business, Reuters reported on
Thursday.
The wealth and personal banking division combined two of
HSBC's better-performing businesses in 2019, growing adjusted
profits by 19% and 15% respectively.
CHINESE DIASPORA
As part of its Asia expansion HSBC has hired some 800
frontline and support staff in wealth management since 2017,
Nunn said, mainly product specialists and relationship managers
for its private bank and 'Jade' offering for those with assets
of $1 million-$5 million.
"We remain committed to really trying to capture share and
be more relevant in the Greater Bay area of China," Nunn said.
In an example of how the lender is targeting the global
Chinese diaspora, HSBC has launched an international payment
system allowing mainland Chinese customers to pay university
fees directly, in renminbi, across 1,700 institutions worldwide.
HSBC interim Chief Executive Noel Quinn said on Tuesday the
bank is combining wealth and personal banking so it can boost
profits from the transfer of products and investment between the
two.
HSBC will aim to expand a partnership with the world's
biggest asset manager BlackRock Inc, to use its Aladdin
investment management software in more markets.
The bank will also extend its Lombard lending product which
allows customers to borrow against assets they hold with the
bank, for example to buy property for a family member.
TOUGH COMPETITION
HSBC will face a tough challenge in its target markets,
however, with domestic players dominating retail banking in the
United States and China and global giants such as UBS
ruling the market for wealthier clients.
While HSBC's British and Hong Kong retail banking businesses
have powered its profits in recent years, in other markets such
as France its sub-scale high street banking presence has been a
drag on earnings.
The lender is attempting to sell that business, Reuters has
previously reported. Nunn declined to comment on the progress of
that strategic review but said a decision will be made in 1-2
months.
He also declined to comment on other markets such as Turkey,
Greece and Oman, previously reported by Reuters as earmarked for
exit.
"We'll continue to review markets on a case-by-case basis,"
Nunn said.
(Reporting by Lawrence White; Additional reporting by Sumeet
Chatterjee; Editing by Susan Fenton)
