HSBC and Merrill Lynch have little doubt where the next explosion in financial services is going to be. They are putting $1 billion into a joint venture which will pool their respective banking and broking resources to attract the booming mass affluent market. The venture will go live by early 2001, according to Victor Dodig, chief marketing officer.
First announced as a service for those with a minimum of $100,000 to invest, Dodig says the new venture will actually sign up customers for less. "We haven't determined a minimum account size," he says. Our general target is the mass affluent which varies from country to country. We originally stated $100,000 to $500,000 but we also know that people put a lot less in to try it out and give it a test run."
The brand name for the new venture is still under wraps but Dodig says it will retain both Merrill Lynch and HSBC names.