Winners rationale

The wealth management scene in onshore Taiwan has enjoyed the tailwind of tax incentives for repatriated funds, a complicating geopolitical landscape, and the successful containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. All these factors have contributed to the prodigious growth of domestic private banks.

Riding on the secular trends in wealth management, Cathay United Bank (CUB) Private Banking has kept the promise of bringing a “true private banking experience” to its clients at home and in the region. The far-reaching network of its parent group coupled with a strong intra-group/bank collaboration culture has enabled CUB Private Banking to tap into the arena where its clients’ private and professional wealth needs intersect.

Apart from offering plain-vanilla products, CUB Private Banking takes advantage of the broader financial group network to provide group-wide, integrated investment opportunities in areas such as pre-IPO, private equity, venture capital, and private-listed REITs.

The private bank furthered its overseas expansion to create a broad private banking network covering Greater China and the ASEAN markets in 2020. It now provides the convenience of asset diversification across three main geographies — Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore — delivered through an organically combined onshore and offshore infrastructure.

CUB’s private banking business in Singapore will be officially launched in 2021, connecting the bank’s regional offices and complementing its existing presence in Hong Kong as an alternative booking centre. The new office in the Lion City will help the bank target Taiwanese entrepreneurs with business interests in the ASEAN markets — a core proposition of the bank. At the same time, CUB’s clients can enjoy offshore services out of its representative offices and branches in all ASEAN countries.

Between 2015 and 2020, CUB Private Banking has seen its AUM growing at a CAGR of over 16% and the number of clients growing at 18%. The relationship management team has been expanded relentlessly, resulting in an average headcount growth of 55% over the past five years.

With the objective of fully upgrading to a regional boutique private bank, CUB Private Banking has positioned itself strategically to capture the wealth of opportunities in Taiwan’s onshore and offshore private banking — and in this regard, 2020 proved to be a year of milestones for the bank.

Cathay United Bank Private Banking is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank — Taiwan Domestic for 2020.