The Asian-based wealth management business is likely to boom, setting an annual growth rate of over 15 per cent over the next two years, according to Barclays Capital in a survey of 57 wealth management businesses in the region.

China is expected to show the highest revenue growth, as 80 per cent of survey respondents said they expected the country to chalk up growth in excess of 15 per cent. Some 60 per cent of respondents said they predicted more than 15 per cent annual revenue growth rates in India, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and 55 per cent of respondents expected the same pace of growth in South Korea.

The survey adds to other recent reports painting a picture of boom times for the region’s wealth managers, contrasting with subdued western markets. Growth remains so strong overall, however, that accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers warned last month that the pool of talented client relationship managers was inadequate to keep up with the pace.

Among its other findings, the Barclays Capital survey showed that with equity markets more volatile, appetite is growing for investment products with more downside protection. Some 80 per cent of wealth managers said their clients make considerable use of capital protection and 65 per cent do so by diversifying their assets.

“These results reflect the influence of the recent market turmoil, with clients placing greater importance on diversifying into liquid assets and protecting their underlying capital than pursuing and aggressive short-term investment strategy,” Peter Hu, head of non-Japan Asia investor solutions at Barclays Capital.

Barclays Capital is the investment banking arm of Barclays, the UK banking group.