HSBC funds unit to boost client assets

MONACO: The fund management arm of HSBC Holdings Plc is targeting an extra $90 billion in new assets, hoping to attract more wealth management customers who already do business with its banking arm, a senior executive said.

HSBC Global Asset Management aims to double the proportion of banking customers who allocate money to the funds unit from 20 percent currently to an industry average of 40 to 50 percent, Rudolf Apenbrink, the unit's chief executive for EMEA, said.

"Industry norm is something we should achieve without problems," Apenbrink said on the sidelines of the Fund Forum International 2011 conference.

"We are working on it, it will take three to five years but this is something on which we are really focusing."

The asset management subsidiary has $460 billion assets globally, of which about $90 billion comes from the wealth management business.

Apenbrink said exchange traded funds (ETF) are another growth area on which HSBC is concentrating, aiming to become a leading player in a rapidly growing sector.

"Our target is to become one of the top three to five players over the next five to 10 years globally. Now we are very small, we started two years or so ago," he said.

He also said he is targeting emerging markets as a source of business growth, calling Africa a great region for opportunities, and said he is looking at Egypt, recovering from political unrest, as a potential area for expansion.

"We have very strong views on Egypt, it is a very interesting market. There is a very small asset management market, it is mainly money-markets funds," he said.

"I could really imagine a presence on the ground. The bank has a presence, but we have not our own asset management subsidiary," he said.

Copyright Reuters, 2011