Ask a high net worth investor in Asia who manages their wealth and the names that usually crop up are either Swiss (Credit Suisse and UBS, or for the super-rich Julius Baer and Pictet), American (Citi and JPMorgan), or regional (DBS). But Liechtenstein?
If VP Bank gets its way, the principality may come up more often in conversation.
The Vaduz-headquartered, boutique wealth manager has been quietly but steadily ramping up its Asian franchise in recent years with several strategic appointments.
VP develops bespoke financial solutions with a particular focus, both in Asia and other regions, on intermediaries such as trustees, fiduciaries, attorneys, family offices and other external asset managers.
The bank had total client assets under management of SFr51.3 billion ($55 billion) at the end of 2021, up 8% from the previous year; more than half of that comes from intermediary clients. If senior management has its way, that proportion – and Asia’s contribution – will rise over the next few years.
Certainly the prospects look enticing. In 2020, the number of high net worth individuals in Asia Pacific and their combined wealth rose 5.8% and 8.4%, respectively, to 6.9 million and $24 trillion, according to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2021.
Total wealth for the region has more than doubled from $10.8