Search

Trusts are either too complicated, do not offer enough control or the investor wants more flexibility in accessing capital later in life. These are the three biggest reasons advisers claim clients shy away from investing in trusts, according to survey. The research conducted with international financial advisers, carried out by Old Mutual International, part of Quilter, revealed that 28% of advisers believe that their clients avoid trusts because they are too complicated and do not understand them. However, due to the fact that trusts can reduce a person’s exposure to inheritance tax, they give advisers the opportunity to demonstrate the...

NEWS 2020

The average expat adds an extra $21,000 to their annual salary by moving overseas, with the best-paid staff found in Switzerland, the US and Hong Kong, according to new research. Some 45% of those who responded to the HSBC Expat Explorer survey say they got more money for the same job by moving abroad, while 28% said they got a promotion. Now in its 11th year, the HSBC Expat Explorer survey gathered the views of 22,318 expats about their experiences abroad, based on that each country is given an Expat Explorer overall score – an average of the ‘economics’, ‘experience’,...

NEWS 2020

China has been tightening its grip on Hong Kong. Then there are the increased restrictions on Hong Kong’s financial practices, such as a 2016 crackdown on sales of certain types of insurance products to mainland Chinese. The products pay dividends over a number of years and are essentially viewed as investments—and potentially a way to send money out of China and evade capital controls. “The Hong Kong market is now heavily affected by mainland China,” says Guan Huanyu, president of Beijing-based wealth manager Zhenghe Holdings, who attended the Sentosa event. While Hong Kong’s Securities & Futures Commission doesn’t break down...

NEWS 2020

A new report from market research company Wealth-X reveals that Hong Kong has surpassed New York City as home to the most number of ultra high net worth individuals. The ultra high net worth (UHNW) population, which only includes people with net worths over $30 million, rose 12.9% globally in 2017 to 255,810 individuals. Their combined net worth increased by 16.3% to $31.5 trillion thanks to a synchronized upturn in the world economy, rising asset markets and robust corporate earnings.  Over 10,000 of them live in Hong Kong, a 31% jump for the city that is a semi-autonomous region of China. This means there are more UHNW people residing in the...

NEWS 2020

Investment trusts are funds that are traded as shares on the UK stock exchange. These trusts invest in various asset classes and shares listed on various exchanges around the world. The trusts are actively managed in line with fixed mandates and overseen by a board of directors. Investment trusts can be considered as an alternative to unit trusts because their underlying charges are lower than those on actively-managed unit trusts. It is not uncommon to find investment trusts that charge less than 1% ongoing annual charge versus the 1.5% to 2% ongoing annual charge that a lot of unit trusts...

NEWS 2020

On the evening of November 15, 2018, Asia Outbound Awards and Gala Dinner was held at Kempinski Hotel in Shanghai. The list of winners of Asia Outbound Awards has been unveiled mysteriously. Special thanks to Our Charity partner, Stepping Stones. The first award announced is the captive Insurance Jurisdiction of the Year. This Award is in recognition of those jurisdictions providing the most ease of use, best regulation and accessibility to the Chinese market for captive insurance vehicles. The shortlisted nominees are:Labuan International Business and Finance Center， Bermuda Business Development Agency， Cayman FinanceThe final winner is Labuan International Business and...

IMMIGRATION BY INVESTMENT NEWS 2019

Asia’s ultra-wealthy business elites are facing their biggest challenge – successfully passing on their hard-earned fortunes to the next generation. There’s an old Chinese proverb that states wealth does not pass three generations. Such a sentiment is set to be put to the test at a time when Asian businesses and entrepreneursare cashed up like never before, especially in China. With companies such as China’s Alibaba, Dalian Wanda and Tencent, and India’s Reliance Industries and Wipro becoming commercial powerhouses – and others following in their slipstream – it is no surprise that the number of Asian billionaires is rising.  Indeed, research from UBS...

PRIVATE & INTERNATIONAL BANKING NEWS 2019

Since February 2018 China has had in place the world’s most restrictive policy regarding cryptocurrencies. No initial coin offerings allowed. Cryptocurrency exchanges shut down. Banks banned from dealing in bitcoin (BTC) and retailers from accepting it. While the government, represented by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), officially frowns upon digital currency, Chinese investors do not; prior to the crackdown, they accounted for 90 percent of the global volume in bitcoin exchanges. So scratch digital currency as a viable tool of China’s monetary policy, right? Wrong. The central bank may be put off by the disruptive way cryptocurrencies like bitcoin operate but it...

PRIVATE & INTERNATIONAL BANKING NEWS 2019