HSBC Private Banking

HSBC Private Banking: A Global Wealth Powerhouse Bridging East and West

HSBC Private Banking, branded HSBC Global Private Banking, is one of the world’s largest and most global private banks. As of December 2024, it managed $395 billion in private banking assets. The firm’s modern incarnation traces back to 1999 when HSBC purchased Republic New York Corporation and Safra Republic Holdings in a $10.04 billion deal. Guyerzeller Bank, which became part of the institution in 1894, was sold to the UBS Group, the main predecessor to the current division, in 2003. The Geneva-based institution is now the largest foreign-owned private bank in Switzerland and one of the five largest private banks worldwide. It has an international network of more than 10 locations and accesses the global network of its parent, HSBC, which is active in 57 countries. The private bank occupies a unique position at the crossroads of the East and West, a testament to the firm’s strategic shift toward Asia, a region that accounted for over 51% of global private banking assets under management. In January 2025, a large segments of Private Banking were folded into the International Wealth and Premier Banking business. The firm appointed former Citi Private Bank chief Ida Liu as the new CEO of the private bank as of January 2026. Her main priority is to grow the business among the world’s ultra high net worth clients.

Services & Capabilities

HSBC Private Banking offers a wide range of wealth management solutions to high net worth, ultra high net worth, entrepreneurs and multi generational families. Focusing on cross border wealth solutions in multiple locations, we leverage the full capability of the HSBC Group which comprises commercial banking, global markets and asset management. Our services include investment management, wealth planning, lending, trust services and family governance to help manage and advise on the multiple financial needs of the highly international client. Our strategic partnerships with leading financial technology providers such as BlackRock (Aladdin Wealth), iCapital Network (alternatives) and Addepar (US wealth management solutions) all reflect the high quality, institutional grade infrastructure that underpins our wealth management business.

• Discretionary portfolio management, advisory, and execution-only investment services across global markets
• Comprehensive wealth and succession planning spanning multiple jurisdictions, including business exit planning and multi-generational wealth transfer
• Trust and fiduciary services, family governance advisory, and family office solutions for complex wealth structures
• Alternative investments platform covering private equity, hedge funds, real estate, private credit, co-investments, and segregated mandates
• Lending and credit solutions including securities-backed lending, real estate financing, and structured credit facilities
• Philanthropy advisory services to help clients structure and execute charitable giving strategies
• Three-tier ESG framework (Enhanced, Thematic, and Impact) integrated into the investment advisory platform
• Unparalleled cross-border connectivity leveraging HSBC Group's presence across 57 countries and territories

Investment Approach

Disruption, sustainability and changing client needs at the heart of our investment philosophy Our investment philosophy remains centred on the principles of global diversification, and the five key research themes that underpin it – which include disruptive technologies, climate action, evolving society, as well as our view on Asia’s role in a new world order, and opportunities where we have an edge as a local player. These research themes, which are the work of a team of research experts within our CIO organisation led by our Global CIO, Willem Sels, seek to put our clients at the forefront of trends that shape our world economy and provide the right mix of convictions, macro views and structural ideas to drive portfolio action. Our open architecture is one of the largest and widest in the industry, with over 300 of the most active funds and 500 ETFs from which to choose, and our global manager selection team – which comprises 40 experienced individuals around the world – was named Euromoney’s Best Fund Selector and Investment Research in Asia. These investments are monitored 24/7 by BlackRock’s Aladdin Wealth platform, which monitors over 3,000 unique risk factors that are specific to each client portfolio. In terms of ESG (environmental, social and governance), we offer our clients a number of options from basic minimum ESG score screening of companies to direct impact investing, and in 2024 we launched eight new ESG-themed funds and ETFs. The ESG aspect of our advice to clients is also incorporated through the Prism Advisory platform at the very centre of our business, so this too is not seen as a bolt on – simply an integral part of our business and way of looking at the world.

Client Focus

HSBC Private Banking is primarily focused on the high net worth and ultra high net worth (UHNW) segments, although the minimum investment requirements can vary from $5m. The firm’s client base includes: - Entrepreneurs & Business Owners - Multi- generational families - Family Offices & Foundations - Increasingly internationally mobile clients looking for global wealth planning and multi-currency wealth management solutions. Given the bank’s Asian origins and substantial network, it is well-positioned to serve this increasingly global, yet diverse, population of clients with a genuinely global capability. - For example, a Hong Kong-based entrepreneur with businesses throughout South East Asia; a UK family with ancestral property across Europe; or a US-based founder planning to sell-out their business and navigate a complex of global tax implications. The firm is expanding its global reach of business and aspires to grow its UK AUM to $135bn by 2028 as well as enhance its private banking activities in India, while expanding its UHNW coverage across Asia. Following a successful hiring spree, which brought in $18bn of $18bn of net new assets in 2024, the firm appointed an experienced UHNW banker, Ida Liu, highlighting the bank’s stated ambitions to expand its private banking business, as mandated by Group leadership, and anticipating a period of accelerated growth across its core wealth segments.