Hong Kong banks unveil fresh cross-border wealth management offerings.

TLDR:

• HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank are increasing their products tied to the Wealth Management Connect scheme in the Greater Bay Area to promote cross-border investments.
• Recent enhancements include raising the individual investment quota to 3 million yuan and adding more product offerings for investors.

Banks in Hong Kong, such as HSBC and Standard Chartered, are expanding their product offerings tied to the Wealth Management Connect scheme to promote cross-border investments in the Greater Bay Area. This comes as Beijing aims to boost the bay area’s financial markets and facilitate capital flow across borders. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) recently announced measures to strengthen financial cooperation, including enhancing the cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect scheme in the bay area.

HSBC has increased its product offerings for both northbound and southbound investments through the scheme to over 400, including more than 100 mutual funds investing in Asia and global markets. The individual investment quota has been raised to 3 million yuan, and enhancements aim to fuel investments and promote deeper integration of the financial sector in the GBA.

Hang Seng Bank, a subsidiary of HSBC, is also expanding its wealth management product offerings tied to cross-boundary investment, offering about 320 southbound and northbound investment options. Standard Chartered has joined in, expanding its product offerings to close to 550 products for southbound investors and introducing more options for northbound investors.

The bay area, with a population of over 86 million and a GDP exceeding 13 trillion yuan, accounts for more than 10% of China’s economic output. By the end of 2023, 67 banks and 69,000 investors in the bay area had joined the Wealth Management Connect scheme, with cross-boundary remittances totaling 12.8 billion yuan. These developments highlight the growing importance of cross-border investments in driving the financial markets in the Greater Bay Area.