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Exclusive | HSBC looks to mergers to expand footprint, serve wealthy customers in Asia, bank chief says
- HSBC Asset Management agreed to buy Singapore-based SilkRoad Property Partners this week to enter into real estate business
- The lender’s Asia-Pacific head said its acquisitions, including that of Citigroup’s unit, signal HSBC expansion’s in wealth management, family businesses
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HSBC said it may buy financial businesses and shed unprofitable units around Asia to expand its footprint for serving wealthy customers, as Hong Kong’s largest bank looks to fine-tune its growth strategy to deliver the best returns for shareholders.
“While organic growth will continue to be a core expansion strategy for HSBC, mergers, acquisitions and disposals will be a key strategy to expand in new markets and to strengthen our existing business lines,” the bank’s Asia-Pacific co-CEO David Liao said in an interview with the Post. “We will only conduct a deal when the targets can be fully integrated into our existing businesses. At the same time, we will dispose of businesses in markets that do not have the scale or growth potential.”
The focus on shareholder returns partly reflects HSBC’s new strategy to deflect last year’s break-up call by its largest stakeholder Ping An Group.
The bank, founded in 1865 in Hong Kong and Shanghai, this week added to its shopping basket the Singapore real estate manager SilkRoad Property Partners, with US$2 billion of assets under management. The bank bought Citigroup’s retail wealth management business on the mainland in October, taking over a portfolio with US$3.6 billion in assets and deposits, with customers in 11 Chinese cities.
The shopping spree is consistent with HSBC’s plan to grow its wealth management, family office and private banking business across the “fastest-growing” region worldwide, Liao said.
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