Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management has hired Henry Wong as the firm’s head of Asian fixed income for Asia Pacific, in a bid to boost its market share in an increasingly competitive industry.
Based in Hong Kong, Wong reports to Elke Schoeppl-Jost, chief investment officer for Asia Pacific and regional asset class head of fixed income and multi-assets, according to a press release.
In this newly created role, Wong will play a key role in expanding the firm’s range of solutions for clients seeking exposure to the region’s fixed-income markets.
His appointment comes at a time when some private banks are bowing out of Asia due to mounting costs and stricter regulation.
Royal Bank of Scotland is the latest victim. The UK-based bank said in early August that it wanted to sell Coutts International, the overseas arm of the private bank that boasts Queen Elizabeth II and David Beckham among its clients — a move that could raise as much as $1 billion, according to market sources.
Although Asia Pacific is Deutsche AWM’s smallest region, representing just 7% of total invested assets, the asset manager expects significantly higher growth rates from the Asia business as strong underlying macroeconomic fundamentals give birth to the region’s second generation of middle class.
According to a Boston Consulting Group report in June, private wealth in Asia Pacific ex-Japan rose by 30.5% to $37 trillion and is the fastest-growing region globally.
With a projected compound annual growth rate of 10.5%, private wealth in the overall region will expand to an estimated $61 trillion by the end of 2018, the report said. At this pace, the region is expected to overtake Western Europe as the second-wealthiest region this year and to leapfrog North America as the wealthiest in 2018.
With $1.31 trillion of assets under management as of June 30, Deutsche AWM hopes to meet its ambitious target of €1.7 billion ($2.2 billion) in global operating profit in Asia-Pacific by the end of next year, as it looks to compete with the likes of UBS and Credit Suisse.
Wong brings 26 years of asset management and banking experience to Deutsche AWM. He joins from BEA Union Investment Management, where he was chief investment officer of fixed income and was responsible for managing Asia fixed income in both hard and local currencies for unit trusts and institutional clients.
Prior to that, he was the head of Asian fixed income at BNP Paribas Asset Management.
