Malaysian Wealth Management Forum 2019

We were delighted to host our 8th annual event or the Private Wealth Management community in Malaysia.

More than 250 CEOs, COOs, Independent Asset managers and other senior practitioners attended – from a mix of local and international Private Banks, Retail Banks, Insurance Companies, Independent Firms & Family Offices, Asset Management Companies, and IFAs.

Thank you to all of our event partners: Henley & Partners, Quantifeed, 360F, Bordier & Cie, GAM, IMTF, IRESS, Intellect Design Arena, Jersey Finance, Leonteq Securities, Wealth Dynamix, ERI Banking Software, Sun Life Financial, Bunker Gold & Silver, CSOP Asset Management, FNZ, Hawksford, InvestaCrowd, J O Hambro Capital Management, Malca Amit, Samsung Asset Management and Swissquote.

Below for your interest and reference are links to various content we captured from the day. Please click on the orange headlines – and do send any comments or feedback to [email protected].

Content Highlights 

Video Highlights
Video Highlights Summary PDF
Exclusive Insights
Testimonials
I Love Wealth Management
Photos
Event summary
Panel discussions
Presentations & Workshops
Videos
Post event Supplement

Post-event Report

You might also like to view the full Post-Event Report – which is a consolidated summary, including photos of speakers & delegates, the attendee profiles & some delegate feedback, polling results, and more.

Event Summary 

Malaysia’s Wealth Management Market: Time to Boost and Accelerate the Proposition
We were delighted to host our 8th annual event in Malaysia for the Private Wealth Management Community. Hubbis assemble an impressive array of private banking, wealth and asset management and insurance sector experts to our forum in Kuala Lumpur to debate the optimal strategies that industry players should adopt to help them survive and prosper in the years ahead.

Video Highlights

We asked leading industry experts - what are the opportunities and challenges for the year ahead? View the combined video highlights, or click on the links to view the individual videos.

Full Video Highlights
Video Highlights Summary PDF
I Love Wealth Management
Testimonials

Carolyn Leng, Head, Private Wealth Malaysia, Group Wealth Management, Community Financial Services, Malaysia, Maybank
Robert Foo, Managing Director, Founder, MyFP Services
Kenny Suen, Principal Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Bill Morrisons
Dominic Volek, Managing Partner, Head Southeast Asia, Henley & Partners
Shan Saeed, Chief Economist, IQI Global
Kimmis Pun, Senior Managing Director, Head, Greater China, EFG Bank
Julian Kwan, Chief Executive Officer, InvestaCrowd
John Robson, Chief Commercial Officer, Quantifeed
Andreas Wenger, General Manager, Asia Pacific, IMTF
Anand Rai, Senior Manager iWealth, Intellect Design Arena

Exclusive Insights ​​​

We asked leading industry experts for their exclusive and incisive insights. Click on the links to view the individual videos:

Exclusive Insights PDF

Carolyn Leng, Head, Private Wealth Malaysia, Group Wealth Management, Community Financial Services, Malaysia, Maybank
What changes are we seeing in client expectations and behavior in Malaysia?

Robert Foo, Managing Director, Founder, MyFP Services
What can you do to improve the value proposition in wealth management in Malaysia?
What trends are we seeing in Malaysian Wealth Management?

Kenny Suen, Principal Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Bill Morrisons
Do you have a structured sales process? To what extent does this need to be improved / changed?

Dominic Volek, Managing Partner, Head Southeast Asia, Henley & Partners
How can Henley & Partners help HNWI clients in Malaysia?

Shan Saeed, Chief Economist, IQI Global
What Macro trends will create opportunities and challenges in 2H 2019?

Kimmis Pun, Senior Managing Director, Head, Greater China, EFG Bank
What are the main opportunities that will continue to drive growth in wealth management in Malaysia?

Julian Kwan, Chief Executive Officer, InvestaCrowd
Is the Blockchain - the future of private wealth and asset management?

John Robson, Chief Commercial Officer, Quantifeed
What digital expectations do clients have?

Andreas Wenger, General Manager, Asia Pacific, IMTF
Are banks going in the right direction in their digital journey?

Anand Rai, Senior Manager iWealth, Intellect Design Arena
What is RM Office – 2020 Advantage?

Panel Discussions 

We held 4 interactive panel discussions throughout the day – which involved senior industry practitioners who we invited to participate and share their thoughts. We have also incorporated into the summaries below the briefing notes which speakers sent to us in advance of the event. Plus, we have included the results of audience polling as well as questions we received from delegates. Click on each headline to view the PDFs.

Private Wealth Management - A Time of Dramatic Change
The wealth management industry is going through a substantial shake-up in Asia, not least in Malaysia, due to digitalisation, increased regulation and changing business models. Panellists suggested ways to boost revenue and cater to those most valuable assets, namely the customers. The topics included the main opportunities that will continue to drive growth in wealth management in Malaysia, the challenges to that growth being realised, regulatory matters, talent, open architecture, or the lack of, client needs and extactions, as well as broadening the overall proposition.

Panel Members

Lin Wein Khoo, Head of Private Wealth, Malaysia, Maybank
Kimmis Pun, Senior Managing Director, Head, Greater China, EFG Bank
Robert Foo, Managing Director, Founder, MyFP Services
Sammeer Sharma, Managing Director & Head - Wealth Management Malaysia, Standard Chartered Bank
Ming Hui Yap, Founder & Managing Director, Whitman Independent Advisors
Kenny Suen, Principal Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Bill Morrisons

Technology: The Digital Future of Private Wealth and Asset Management
Panellists at the Hubbis Malaysia Wealth Management Forum explained how the industry must embrace the emerging digitalisation trends in wealth management. In Malaysia, there is great potential in the mass affluent segment and overall there is much progress needed in the world of digital solutions for all types of wealth management clients. Panellists therefore put their heads together to discuss the emerging digitalisation trends in wealth management. Symbiotic partnerships, the prudent use of digital advances as well as ensuring clients feel supported were top priorities in surviving these increasingly tech-reliant times.

Panel Members

John Robson, Chief Commercial Officer, Quantifeed
Andreas Wenger, General Manager, Asia Pacific, IMTF
Kelvin Lim, Head of Business Development, Asia, IRESS
Michael Gerber, Chief Executive Officer, 360F
Julian Kwan, Chief Executive Officer, InvestaCrowd
Allen Chote, Head of Strategic Partnerships – South East Asia, FNZ

The Outstanding Opportunity for Islamic Wealth Management in Malaysia
The Islamic finance industry and the wealth management industry in Malaysia both continue to develop apace, especially as the regional market shifts more towards the onshore proposition. How far has Islamic wealth management come in Malaysia, is the country nurturing the industry through encouraging regulation, are the necessary skills, erudition and expertise in place? Are there enough products available, and if not, will the Islamic investment universe grow sufficiently fast? These are other questions were addressed briefly in a mini-panel discussion during the recent Hubbis Malaysia Wealth Management Forum. The broad conclusion was that there is much work ahead, but the path is clear, participants have their compasses well set and considerable opportunity lies ahead.

Panel Members

Suhazi Reza Selamat, Chief Executive Officer, UOB Islamic Asset Management
Richard Nunn, Head of Business Development, Jersey Finance
Elias Moubarak, Partner, Trowers & Hamlins

How should Asia’s HNWIs be Investing in a Time of Greater Market Uncertainty?
There were some strong views expressed in the last panel discussion of the day at the Malaysia Wealth Management Forum, with one expert warning that Western economy policymakers and their governments have run out of fiscal ammunition and money. The general consensus was that Asia is far better placed in terms of its government, corporate and personal finances, and China too, despite the ‘noise’ of the US-China trade conflict. And alternative investment strategies such as innovative structured products, or plain vanilla diversification into gold are advisable to underpin the downside and to reduce correlation.

Panel Members

Shan Saeed, Chief Economist, IQI Global
Ranjiv Raman, Head of Investments, Schroders Wealth Management
Tony Wong, Head of Intermediary Sales, CSOP Asset Management
Joanne Siu, ETF Sales Director, Samsung Asset Management
Rossen Djounov, Managing Director, Head of Asia, GAM
David Meier, Director, Sales - Structured Solutions, Leonteq

Presentations

Below are summaries of the Presentations and Wealth TALKS delivered at the event. These were 10-minute slots hosted either by senior industry practitioners who we invited to speak (Wealth TALKS), or by some of our event partners (Presentations). Also listed with each summary are links to the presentation slides (where these are made available by speakers). Click on each headline to view the web versions of these – from which you can also access the 1-page PDFs.

Investment Migration for Asia’s Wealthy Clients - A World of Choice
Dominic Volek, Managing Partner and Head of Southeast Asia at investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners gave a head to head interview and he and his colleague Chee Mee Ho, Country Head for Malaysia, presented a fascinating Workshop. Their topic was global investment migration, and they highlighted why and how increasing numbers of Asia’s wealthy are taking up alternative citizenship and residence options around the globe. Henley & Partners’ activities span the private client practice, which focuses on the needs of high net worth (HNW) and ultra-HNW clients who seek secondary residence or citizenship through investment, as well as the government practice, where Henley works with countries to design, implement and promote their individual programmes. They explained that the global trend towards offshore residence and citizenship is even more intense in Asia due to the phenomenal rise in the number of HNWIs and UHNWIs in the wider Asia Pacific region, which last year set a new record of 6.2 million HNWIs worth USD21.6 trillion, according to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2018. And they explained that Asia’s HNWIs and the ultra-rich should seriously consider these options and as they will need the best professional advice should consider Henley, as the reputed leader in this advisory business.
View Slides

Embracing Digital Automation to Build Scale in Wealth Management
A major concern today for banks and wealth advisory firms is how they can satisfy their customers’ evolving wealth management expectations. The danger, John Robson told delegates at the Malaysia Wealth Management Forum, is that failure to act decisively and embrace digital transformation will heighten the risk of customers drifting away to the growing number of competitors with appealing new digital offerings. Robson began by introducing Quantifeed as a Hong Kong-based company he founded around seven years ago and today with offices also in Singapore and Australia.

Rolling Out Vital Digital Wealth Automation Solutions in Asia
Quantifeed’s John Robson and Shadab Taiyabi joined forces to present a Workshop to offer insights from Quantifeed’s recent deployments of digital wealth automation to financial institutions in Asia. They explained that leading FIs across Asia are racing to deploy digital wealth management capabilities and highlighted some of the digital wealth platforms Quantifeed has delivered. They explained how the firm’s quantitative and financial software engineering expertise is significantly enhancing and expanding the digital propositions and delivery for wealth management leaders across Asia.  Robson is Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Strategic Partnerships at Quantifeed and founded the firm back in 2012. Shadab Taiyabi is Senior Executive and Head of Strategic Partnerships for Southeast Asia. Both are therefore at the cutting edge of the firm’s relationship building and platform delivery across the region.

The Flexibility and Appeals of Structured Products for Asia’s HNWIs
David Meier, Director of Investment Solutions Sales at Swiss-based Leonteq Securities, gave an informative and detailed presentation to delegates at the Malaysia Wealth Management Forum. Armed with an informative, high-quality slide presentation, Meier highlighted the appeals of structured products as an ideal diversification tool that should be an active part of any well-diversified HNWI portfolio, offering potential returns in sync with the market perspectives of the investors themselves.
View Slides

IMTF's RegTech Platform - Solutions for the digitisation of Client Onboarding
Andreas Wenger, General Manager for Asia Pacific at RegTech IMTF, is passionate about his business and the subject of technology for solving the many issues facing wealth managers in handling the ubiquitous and ever-proliferating global regulation. He gave a presentation at the Malaysia Wealth Management Forum to explain how IMTF’s smart RegTech solutions help with client onboarding, name screening, and AML/Fraud prevention, and all at the same time offering clients positive user experiences. IMTF has three decades of experience, is Swiss by origin, and the regional HQ for Asia is in Singapore.
View Slides

Market Dislocations and the Current Financial Environment: Challenge or Opportunity?
Armed with some detailed and insightful slides, Rossen Djounov, Managing Director and Head of Asia for GAM Investments, gave a presentation at the Hubbis Malaysia Wealth Management Forum to discuss whether slower growth, weaker earnings and elevated stock and bond valuations should be considered a challenge or an opportunity. The classic ‘balanced’ portfolio is no longer fit for purpose, he said, and diversification should be enhanced by including non-directional, alpha-generating and relative value strategies. Moreover, opportunities within the credit universe, emerging market debt and commodity trade finance can offer new sources of return that are less correlated with traditional assets.
View Sildes

The Digital Watch, or the Hand-Made Swiss Timepiece? Views from EFG Bank
Kimmis Pun, Senior Managing Director and Head for Greater China at EFG Bank addressed the delegates at the Hubbis Malaysia Wealth Management Forum, highlighting the need for private banks to add value in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. How will the world of wealth management reconcile its traditional culture and practices with a new world of digital? For Pun, it is via the hybrid model combining both digital enablement and the human connection. Swiss private bank EFG began life in 1995 in Zurich and ten years later listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In 2016 the bank took another leap forward by combining forces with one of the oldest private banks in Switzerland, BSI, in a nearly 1 billion Swiss franc deal.
View Slides

Consistent, Holistic and Valuable Advice – Hope or Reality?
Michael Gerber, Chief Executive Officer of the fintech he founded three years ago, the Singapore-based 360F, has set out to prove that it is indeed possible for wealth management firms to offer digitally-enabled, unbiased portfolio recommendations that are tailored to each client and continuously refined via machine learning, and that even take into account the many life changes of a client in the future. He told the audience at the Hubbis Malaysia Wealth Management Forum how 360F can help clients and advisers identify the optimal investment and protection products on a continuous basis, and thereby contribute to the client’s financial happiness.
View Slides

Intellect Design Highlights its RM Office - 2020 Advantage
Anand Rai, Senior Manager for iWealth, part of Intellect Design Arena Ltd., gave a presentation to the Hubbis Malaysia Wealth Management Forum to highlight how the firm’s 2020 Advantage digital product enhances the performance of relationship managers in the wealth management industry. He said it is possible to Increase RM productivity by 20%, cut operational costs by 20%, while at the same time managing compliance hurdles. All this is achieved through leveraging digitally enhanced outreach and contextualized experience, which result in actionable insights to direct the destiny of the business.
View Slides

International Finance Centres: The Past, Present and the Exciting Future
Richard Nunn, Head of Business Development for Jersey Finance, believes in quality and integrity. Accordingly, he believes that the future is bright for leading international finance centres such as Jersey, which have the history of quality, reliability and reputational integrity. He told delegates at the Hubbis Malaysia Wealth Management Forum why he sees an exciting future ahead for Jersey, and why the connections to Malaysia’s Islamic Finance market are so important.  Jersey Finance is a not-for-profit marketing organisation that was formed in 2001 to represent and promote Jersey as an international financial centre of excellence. Funded by members of the local finance industry and the States of Jersey Government, it is an International Finance Centre (IFC) with offices today in Jersey, Dubai, Hong Kong, representation in London, as well as virtual offices in Shanghai and Mumbai.
View Sides

The HNW Insurance Market has Changed – How Do You Win?
David Varley, Chief High Net Worth Officer at Sun Life Hong Kong, Sun Life Financial, told the audience, during a head to head Q&A with Hubbis founder Michael Stanhope, what has been happening in the HNW insurance market, and explained how, in his view, brokers, bankers and external asset managers can adapt their strategies to take advantages of the many opportunities. He also highlighted the key trends in the HNW market and explained why more bankers and financial advisers should be interested in HNW insurance.