Winners rationale

During a year in which Asian markets were shaken by bouts of volatility in both the equity and fixed income markets, BNP Paribas Wealth Management delivered resilient performance to clients while significantly improving its product shelf.

That helped drive a record year for revenue in Asia in 2021 for BNP Paribas WM across cash equity, equity structured products, funds and private equity and real estate (PERE). The bank revelled in a record year in the region in terms of AUM and new subscriptions, across fund and PERE.

BNP Paribas WM proved adept at helping clients navigate the volatility that rippled through markets in 2021. The bank downgraded long-dated bonds issued by China Evergrande to ‘reduce’ in October 2020 before extending this call to all of the crisis-stricken developer’s bonds in August 2021. The bank kept in close communication with clients during this turbulent period and offered alternative recommendations and tailor-made solutions. BNP Paribas was equally early to downgrade Chinese technology names in February 2021 — ahead of a regulatory crackdown — and provided clients with solutions to help recover losses.

Penetration of managed assets into client portfolios maintained their upward trajectory, bolstered by strategic calls on areas such as energy transition and global reflation that yielded strong returns for clients.

The bank demonstrated innovation in new products it could bring to clients. Its 2025 floating-rate fixed-maturity plan, launched in August, proved a hit with the region’s U/HNWIs and provided clients with a source of stable returns, a hedge against interest rate risk and diversification away from China high-yield bonds.

In addition, BNP Paribas WM greatly expanded the scope of its PERE offerings, including the first open-ended REIT with monthly liquidity; a global growth buy-out fund targeting innovative and disruptive companies; and an Asia growth buy-out strategy focusing on domestic consumption and exporters in the region. That commitment to broadening the product shelf was rewarded with a robust rise in client inflows and subscribers to PERE strategies compared to both 2020 and the pre-COVID-19 era in 2019.

BNP Paribas WM has long been recognised as a leader in ESG, and the bank’s investment advisory function burnished its credentials here during the period under review. More than 90% of the universe of equities, ETFs and bonds offered under investment advisory now come with an SRI rating courtesy of BNP Paribas WM’s proprietary Clover system. For funds, this proportion is more than 70%, while the bank’s ESG-themed DPM mandates benefited from strong inflows during the year.

Finally, BNP Paribas WM made strides in digital innovation — such as through the introduction of platforms like Symphony — to increase the efficiency of communication between relationship managers and product specialists.

For these reasons, BNP Paribas WM is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Investment Advisory for 2021.