The Singapore-headquartered bank has inked a MoU with the Japanese group, aiming to capture a slice of business from Japanese ultra- and high net worth clients.

Bank of Singapore and SMBC Trust Bank are partnering to provide the latter’s clients with investment services, a move that the Singaporean firm said will “significantly” boost its Japanese profile.

The Memorandum of Understanding MOU will improve Bank of Singapore’s visibility among Japanese ultra-high and high net worth individuals where growth in assets under management from this segment has been robust, with a 19 per cent annual growth rate in 2017, BoS said in a statement.

SMBC Trust Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation - Japan’s second largest bank by assets.

Banks seeking to tap into Japan’s UHNW and HNW client base have for years had to contend with a relatively protectionist, closed market. The potential is nevertheless seen as high. According to Boston Consulting Group, private wealth in Japan is expected to increase from $14.9 trillion in 2016 to $16.2 trillion in 2021. Jones Lang LaSalle in a March 2018 report stated that Japanese investors are looking outside of Japan to expand and diversify their portfolios outside of domestic bonds and stocks into alternative asset classes including real estate.

Outbound real estate investment from Japan was nearly $3.5 billion in 2017, 70 per cent more than in 2016.