After 147 years in the Philippines, HSBC knows its way around one of Asia’s more turbulent economies. In the past 12 months, the firm’s private banking division took that legacy even further with a banner year.
Despite global turmoil, high inflation and a contentious presidential election in 2022, HSBC Private Bank Manila said net new money jumped 181%, year on year, and bookings from clients new to the bank rose 136%.
The strong performance is thanks to the team led by Sandeep Uppal, the CEO of HSBC Philippines.
HSBC’s long history in the Philippines is well known in banking circles. It is the international bank to beat there as it leverages its universal banking licences and businesses in retail, commercial banking, global banking, capital markets and private banking to help its clients connect assets and investments across markets.
In 2022, the Philippine private banking division helped a range of international business owners to find financing. It worked with entrepreneurs and their families to sustain and increase wealth across generations. In all cases, HSBC leveraged the trust only accorded to banks with a century-plus of experience in Manila combined with a vast global network.
HSBC’s credit advisory services were in demand in 2022. The bank provided wealthy clients with short-term liquidity or enhanced yields by lending against financial securities, hedge funds, private equity and real estate funds. Its dedicated credit specialists structured solutions such as lending against concentrated equity positions or offering bespoke financing needs to clients across sectors and wealth profiles.
The wealth and succession-planning businesses, and those focused on the bank’s high net-worth client base, were also busy. For HNW clients, HSBC offers basic premier banking as well as a range of other services, for example assistance with premier overseas education, an international wealth management solution and products tailored for the vast diaspora of Philippine professionals. These products all showcase HSBC’s international connectivity.
Philanthropy is another important area: HSBC helps clients to set up family foundations and charitable trusts, draft donation policies, administer grants, and evaluate the outcomes of charitable giving.
On investment research, HSBC’s economists and analysts on the ground kept clients updated with predictions on central bank rate moves, shifts in fiscal policy and corporate profits – anything and everything they can use to make sound portfolio decisions.