The Singapore-headquartered group told this publication that it wants to get a local licence in the Asian jurisdiction to meet what it says is growing demand for discretionary portfolio management services.

Yesterday, DBS Private Bank confirmed to WealthBriefingAsia that it is considering obtaining local regulatory clearance in Hong Kong to provide discretionary portfolio management services. 

As part of the move, the Singapore-listed group is “building a team of skilled personnel,” an emailed comment from DBS said yesterday. 

“While our private banking clients around the world can already tap on the expertise of our DPM team in Singapore to create bespoke investment solutions, we are considering a local licence in Hong Kong to offer clients greater convenience, on-the-ground access, to better meet growing demand for DPM services,” the statement said.

While Hong Kong and Singapore are rival wealth management jurisdictions, this initiative hightlights how a large Asia-focused lender such as DBS is keen to pursue business from affluent and high net worth clients in both places and the surrounding region. 

The bank has been tracking the view of affluent Hong Kong investors. For example, a survey by DBS in Hong Kong of 1,517 such investors found that this year they expect their portfolios to generate a return on average of 9 per cent. Investors’ priority is to preserve wealth: 69 per cent said it is their primary investment goal for 2025. Most of them (61 per cent) plan to increase their investment allocations over the next 12 months.

In early August, DBS said its consumer banking/wealth management arm logged pre-tax profit of S$2.397 billion ($1.87 billion) in the first six months of 2025, versus S$2.346 billion a year earlier.