Hong Kong insurance sales, investment activity and card spending rise against market-rally backdrop: Citigroup
- The bank recorded 24 per cent annual growth in new clients for its prestige accounts, as well as more insurance sales, in the first quarter
- ‘The recent stock market rally has led customers across the board to become more active in investment,’ says a senior wealth-management executive
Wealthy residents and visitors in Hong Kong are seeking more investment and wealth-management services, buying more insurance and increasing their spending via debit cards amid the market rally this year, according to a senior Citigroup executive.
“We have seen a strong growth in sales of our investment services and insurance products in the first quarter,” Vicky Kong Pik-tung, the bank’s head of wealth for North Asia and Australia, said in a media briefing on Monday.
“The growth momentum continues in the second quarter, as we have seen clients become more active in seeking investment advice for products other than time deposits. The recent stock market rally has led customers across the board to become more active in investment.”
Sales of life insurance policies to mainland visitors in Hong Kong in the first quarter amounted to HK$15.63 billion (US$2 billion), according to Insurance Authority figures last Friday, a 63 per cent jump from HK$9.61 billion a year earlier.
Hong Kong’s stock market snapped a four-year losing streak to stabilise in the first quarter and rally starting in April. The benchmark Hang Seng Index is up 7 per cent this year, coming back from a drop of almost 14 per cent last year, after China introduced measures to support the mainland property market and encourage more cross-border trading between Hong Kong and mainland China.
Kong said Citigroup saw 24 per cent combined annual growth in the first quarter for its prestige accounts: Citigold, which requires minimum investible assets of HK$1.5 million, and Citigold Private Client, which requires assets of US$1 million.