HSBC has opened a new wealth center in Manhattan's Hudson Yards as the bank repositions its wealth management and private banking business to cater to a global client base.
Over the past few years, HSBC has closed 228 of its 250 branch locations in the US. destroyed its mass market retail banking business to focus on supporting multinational companies and wealthier households with cross-border banking and investment needs. HSBC now consists of a commercial bank serving companies with up to $2 billion in revenue, a global bank serving larger-cap multinational corporations and institutions, the wealth and private banking business, and a market division that supports the other three with products “mostly” about foreign exchange rates.
“We are one of the few banks that offer links to our global wealth and personal private banking funds. No other bank can do this,” said Michael Roberts, CEO and Chief Executive Officer of HSBC North America Holdings.
Speaking during his first media roundtable as CEO at the unveiling of the new center adjacent to the bank's US headquarters in the Spiral Building designed by Tishman SpeyerRoberts noted that HSBC has locations in 62 countries that produce 90% of the world's wealth.
“Obviously we are very well established in Hong Kong, being rooted in the organization where we were founded 154 years ago,” he said. “But similarly, we have very significant operations both here in America and in Europe and the Middle East. And that really ensures our ability to serve our clients in a very seamless way to look after all their financial needs.”
Wealthy HSBC clients have access to a wide range of foreign investments and are able to open accounts and lines of credit in other countries before ever setting foot there. The bank provides mortgages for international borrowers, handles international payments and global transfers and offers a multi-currency account that can be managed through the app from anywhere in the world.
“Our wealth model is for an international client base,” said Racquel Oden, who was hired in September to lead the wealth and personal banking (WPB) division for HSBC US. “But we also have what I call a single relationship manager model.”
Oden said the goal was to create “a client continuum where you have all the banking, the wealth management, the private banking, the extremely high net worth all together.”
“Customers still need everyday banking,” she added. “So within the wealth center, downstairs, we have the ability for you to handle your banking needs, but we've spent a lot of time making sure that we primarily focus on our ability to provide advice and build spaces that allow for that one-on-one delivery of holistic advice from our relationship managers.”
The remaining 22 branch locations in the US are also now serving as HSBC's wealth centers.
While HBSC has expanded rapidly to other parts of the world, with an emphasis on Asia, Roberts emphasized that its state business remains vital.
“If you're going to create a global bank,” he said. “If you need, and are driven by, connections, where should you be? In the United States. The largest capital markets, the largest investment destination, the most sophisticated environment in the world. Even the strongest competitors in the world, which I always remind everyone.”
“If we have debt issuers above a certain level, we have to come to the United States,” he explained. “If we help finance a transaction, let's say in Europe, if it goes over $5 billion, we have to finance in the United States. When we look at investors, whether it's a Saudi investor, whether it's a Hong Kong investor or an Indian investor, and they're looking for alternative investments, where do they come? United States. So the network does not work without the United States.”
Roberts also noted that the US produces some of the largest companies in the world and said that HSBC US is “the largest exporter of income in our network”.
With more than $1.7 trillion under management, HSBC's global WPB business serves around 38 million clients. Six million are international customers, including about 70% of the 400,000 served in the US
At the end of 2023, HSBC had just over $3 trillion in assets globally, with about $343 billion in North America. That's slightly more than a year ago, according to Statista, but less than any other year since 2011.