The study is an example of how figures in the private wealth sector in the Asian jurisdiction are increasingly concerned about issues such as geopolitics and market volatility.

A survey of figures in Hong Kong’s private wealth industry finds that volatile markets and the macroeconomic environment are the topics they fret most abount, while geopolitics has risen to be the second-highest concern for 2023, up from 11th a year ago.

Regulations and the ability to hire and keep quality staff ranked third and fourth highest concerns in 2023, respectively, against sixth and eighth a year before. The findings came from the eighth annual Hong Kong Private Wealth Management report, co-written with KPMG China. The study, which is largely based on a survey of PWMA member institutions and their clients, is supplemented by the results of the Securities and Futures Commission’s Asset and Wealth Management Activities Survey 2022. 

The surveys and interviews were carried out between June and August this year.

The survey found that members are relatively sanguine about growth prospects: 18 per cent of members surveyed expect annual growth in the industry's AuM to exceed 10 per cent over the next five years, while the proportion of Hong Kong-based AuM sourced from mainland China is expected to increase from 36 per cent to 46 per cent in five years’ time.

That said, there are grounds for caution. Forecast annual AuM growth for the next five years is “subdued,"

 the report said, with considerably more member firms (15 per cent) expecting to see under 5 per cent growth compared with last year’s survey (8 per cent).

AuM fell in 2022 for Hong Kong’s private banking and private wealth management business, mostly reflecting falls in markets. 

Total AuM of Hong Kong’s private banking and private wealth management business stood at HK$8.965 trillion ($1.14 trillion) as at the end of 2022, falling by 15 per cent on a year before, the study said.