Private banking bonanza prompts difficult decisions

IN SINGAPORE’S tropical heat, only two types of businessmen sport suit jackets: visitors ignorant of local attire and the private bankers that ply their trade in what is Asia’s key wealth management centre.

These days there are plenty of jacketed, well-heeled private bankers around Raffles Place and along Collyer Quay since the industry has been on a relentless hiring spree for years. Asian private banking is enjoying a bonanza. According to Boston Consulting Group, from 1999 to 2004, total wealth of households in Asia ex-Japan had a compound annual growth rate of 7.4%. There is little sign that growth is likely to slow much either. BCG forecasts wealth in Asia will grow by an additional annual 6.8% over the next five years.

That makes Asia comfortably the fastest-growing market for wealth management globally and explains why banks are...