With many patriarchs reaching the late stages of their lives and often seeking a business exit, financial institutions with a strong commercial banking business “must consider wealth management and the next generation” or risk witnessing outflows from the end of the relationship, Hong Leong Bank’s Jeffrey Yap said in an exclusive interview.
Wealth management is becoming an increasingly important piece within the banking sector, not only due to its ability to provide fee-based income to offset interest rate risks and to capture the growing market of riches. Even for financial institutions that have traditionally been focused on other areas, such as SME banking, it is key as families are maturing and transitioning to a new stage.
“Banks like ours that have strong commercial or corporate banking businesses must consider wealth management and the next generation. If not, when the patriarch sells his business or passes away, the relationship ends,” said Jeffrey Yap, managing director and regional head of wealth management at Hong Leong Bank (HLB), in an interview with Global Private Banker.
“We currently have strong cross-divisional and cross-country collaboration, especially between Malaysia and Singapore. We are also planning to launch a NextGen initiative at the end of the year. It’s still in the early stages, but we’ve received a lot of feedback to focus on topics like investment education, lifestyle, and exclusive access.”
Singapore-Malaysia corridor
Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, HLB is leveraging its strengths by capturing wealth flows between its home market of Malaysia and Singapore. On top of plans to increase its front office headcount in the two markets by 30-40% in the coming financial year, it will also look to hire for supporting roles across investment counseling, product management, compliance, digitalisation, and platforms.
“Additionally, we remain positive on Hong Kong as a location to acquire and serve clients, but Singapore will continue to be our booking centre of choice,” Yap noted.
Onshore opportunity in Malaysia and Vietnam
Beyond private banking in offshore markets, HLB is also developing its onshore capabilities.
In Malaysia, the bank has set up a small team to provide family office and governance advisory to take advantage of growing inflows, partly from recent years of supply chain diversification, as well as enhanced regulations. The Southeast Asian nation has set up a special financial zone in Forest City, Johor, with 0% tax rate for single family offices and lower entry thresholds compared to regulatory requirements in Hong Kong and Singapore. According to local regulator Securities Commission Malaysia, Forest City is on track to attract MYR 2 billion (USD 500 million) in assets under management from family offices by the end of 2026.
HLB also has a presence in Vietnam – another beneficiary of supply chain diversification – with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. It is positioning its wealth business there for deregulation and building product capabilities on the ground alongside an existing referral business to Singapore.
“Many countries in Asia are aware that in order to have robust capital markets, you also need to have strong wealth and asset management capabilities onshore. Otherwise, capital may end up just flowing out to Singapore or Hong Kong, for example,” Yap explained. “If you are unable to retain capital, it becomes difficult to support vital funding needs, whether for a large IPO or the ongoing tech and AI build-out.”
“We know we can’t give everything to every client”
In terms of wealth management capabilities, HLB taking a mixed approach between reliance on in-house development and external providers. On the latter, it formed a strategic alliance with Lombard Odier in May 2025 to lean on the strong investment focus around the Swiss bank’s research and chief investment office (CIO). In the fourth quarter of 2026, it is planning to launch a new solution that will further leverage Lombard Odier’s CIO capabilities.
“We know we can’t give everything to every client,” Yap added. “On the other hand, we also have our own unique strengths as a regional private bank. Many global private banks are quite risk-averse when it comes to lending against assets in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia. In contrast, our deep local footprint and asset familiarity allow us to take a disciplined, highly informed approach to credit in these markets.”
