China's private banks grow their assets

A man passes by a wealth management center of China Merchants Bank in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.[Photo/VCG]

China's top 10 private banking institutions managed 7.5 trillion yuan ($1.12 trillion) of assets at the end of 2016, up 21.9 percent year-on-year, according to a report by Asian Private Banker.

China Merchants Bank Private Banking takes the top spot, with 1.6 trillion yuan of assets under management, followed by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Private Banking with 1.2 trillion yuan, and Bank of China Private Banking with 1 trillion yuan.

Private banking, as a high-end financial service, consists of banking, investment and other financial services provided to high-net-worth individuals, with total assets available for investment in excess of $1 million.

Of the top 10, nine private banking institutions come from banks, except for CICC Wealth Management which is owned by China International Capital Corp Ltd. Last year, CICC Wealth Management had 618.8 billion yuan of assets under management, jumping 55.1 percent year-on-year.

Since 2012, the total assets managed by China's top 10 private banking institutions grew at a compound annual rate of 30.6 percent, while for Asia's (excluding China onshore) top 20 private banks, the figure was just 6.75 percent.

In its report, ABP said that with the rapid growth of personal wealth, China's private banking market has huge room to grow. However, the industry has yet to fully mature and lags the offshore market's appeal in terms of product offerings, diversity in business models, professionalization and investor sophistication.

Last year, the number of clients of China's top 10 private banking institutions totaled 475,000. Bank of China Private Banking had the largest amount of clients with 95,400, followed by ICBC Private Banking and Agricultural Bank of China, with 70,100 and 70,000 respectively.