Private banks expecting a bonanza from new wealth in Asia, especially among seriously rich individuals in emerging markets such as China and India, are finding the region more difficult to enter than expected, according to a McKinsey survey.
“It’s an environment where there is a big gap between the players who are getting the margins and those that are barely surviving,” says Kenny Lam, a partner at McKinsey who specialises in private banking.
While Asia is still growing faster than Europe or the US, Mr Lam says, it is still a market where there are substantial costs associated with relationship management in private banking. “The products tend to be simpler and this leads to lower margins,” he says.