HSBC creates ‘new breed’ of relationship managers for its wealth management business

HSBC has a new wealth proposition which is creating exciting career opportunities for experienced relationship managers who want to serve high-net-worth customers in the right way. Its new Retail Banking and Wealth Management offering, HSBC Jade, is targeted at clients with investible assets  between US$1 million to US$5 million, a segment whose needs are not typically well met by private banks.

Guilherme Lima, Group Head of Wealth Management at HSBC, says: “This group is by far the fastest growing segment in the market and a large amount of the growth will be happening here in Asia.”

In order to provide an exceptional service to these clients, the bank is looking to recruit 600 people around the world over the next few years to work in HSBC Jade, mainly in Hong Kong, as well as Singapore and mainland China.

Lima explains that the relationship manager sits at the very centre of the Jade proposition. With Jade, HSBC is putting an emphasis on serving customers’ needs rather than meeting sales targets – and this is part of what’s unique about how HSBC’s frontline staff are motivated. “These Jade Directors are really top notch relationship managers. They will use HSBC’s unparalled scale, connectivity and insights to provide each client with trusted guidance and support to understand and fulfill their diverse needs, both domestically and internationally.”

He explains that Jade Directors spend a lot more time with clients than would be the case in a mass affluent banking proposition. They will be offering support, products, services and insights to their clients, some of which are typically only available from private banks. 

As a result, HSBC is looking for talented professionals who not only have technical knowledge of financial markets, but who are also passionate about understanding clients’ needs and using their expertise to provide them with solutions.

To help successful candidates meet HSBC’s high expectations of them, Jade Directors will be supported by an industry-leading global training programme that will help equip them with the necessary skills to provide an exceptional customer experience.

This will not only be provided internally by HSBC, which is in the process of setting up its own Jade Learning Academy, but they will also have access to insights, training and seminars given by analysts from a variety of asset managers and multiple other ‘best-in-class’ experts.

Lima explains that with HSBC being one of the largest contributors to mutual funds in the region, many of the fund houses offer their own in-house experts to train HSBC’s relationship managers.

“Jade is a priority segment for HSBC, so its Jade Directors will receive a lot of education and training,” he says.

HSBC’s strategy of growing its wealth management capabilities across Asia creates significant mobility opportunities for future Jade Directors.

Lima explains that there is a natural evolution of talent at HSBC, enabling people who start out working for HSBC to further their careers by moving between Premier, Jade, the Private Bank, and even Commercial Banking, for example.

“You can continue to progress your career over the long term, never having to leave the firm. The sky is the limit,” Lima says.

Another area in which Jade Directors are set to benefit is technology. Lima believes artificial intelligence will play an increasingly important role in wealth management going forward. To this end, HSBC is investing heavily in technology to develop tools to assist its Jade Directors. HSBC recently announced a partnership with Blackrock to bring the Aladdin Wealth platform to HSBC Jade and Private Bank customers – a tool that enhances client portfolio analysis, portfolio construction and risk management capabilities.

Aladdin is well-established among asset managers and institutional investors, but its use in private wealth management is more recent. HSBC is the first bank to offer the benefits of Aladdin Wealth to high-net-worth customers around the world.

“Making something complex become very intuitive and simple to clients is going to be the key to success and we are investing a lot in tools to enable us to do this” he says.

The bank is also using technology to give Jade Directors more time to spend with their clients and build up a strong relationship. With this in mind, Jade Directors are equipped with tablets so that client meetings can be more interactive and mobile than if they were sitting behind a desk entering everything into a computer.

Lima says: “We have spent a lot of time thinking about how we can redesign our processes, supported by technology, so that we can really focus on the human connection between the Jade Director and the client.”

To anyone interested in joining the bank, Lima points out HSBC’s strong global brand whose 150-plus year heritage stems from Asia, while the bank also has a strong balance sheet and one of the best research teams in the market.

“We have all of the tools, resources and infrastructure to make Jade Directors successful.  In addition to a very compelling training programme, our market-leading employee benefits and approach to well-being empowers all colleagues to grow fulfilling careers and helps us remain an employer of choice,” he says.

He adds that developing the Wealth Management business in Asia is one of the Group’s top priorities, so a lot of investment is going into this area. “We have a brand new first-of-its-kind Jade Centre within the 5 star Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, the first Jade Centre in South East Asia at Claymore Singapore and the soon-to-be-open Jade Centre at Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore by the first half of 2019. This really is a very exciting time to join HSBC in Asia.” 

To find out more about a career as a Director Relationship Management in HSBC Jade visit hsbc.com/wealth-careers