China's CNCBI Launches New Wealth Offering

Tom Burroughes

11 December 2020

has launched a wealth management service called CITICdiamond, pitched at both health as well as financial wellbeing.

The offering is for customers with at least HK4 million ($516,000) or more, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

Rising Hong Kong and Asian wealth is driving demand for such services, the bank continued.

CITICdiamond customers may trade Hong Kong, China and US securities and use fund trading services over the bank’s robo-advisory service Robo 360. Teams at the new wealth business cover investment, insurance and foreign exchange.

“Response to CITICdiamond has been encouraging and the number of new customers has exceeded our expectation since its soft launch in July 2020. This tells us that demand of HNW customers for wealth management services is strong,” Stephen Man, executive general manager, private banking and wealth management, personal and business banking, CNCBI, said.

“We expect further expansion of the bank’s CITICdiamond business and anticipate multiple growth in AuM and customer numbers in 2021. The second CITICdiamond Banking Centre will open in Mongkok in coming January. We are also planning to increase the number of CITICdiamond Banking Centres so as to provide comprehensive services to more HNW customers,” he said.

From now until 31 December, new CITICdiamond customers have a welcome offer of up to HK$23,000 including cash rewards, first-year premium discounts for designated medical insurance and exclusive wellness treatments. The service covers other benefits such as a secured credit facility, a range of investments, health checks and medical insurance.

The bank cited statistics (Private Wealth Management Association and KPMG China) showing that Hong Kong’s private wealth management sector posted an AuM of HKD9.1 trillion in 2019, about 20 per cent higher than a year earlier. This growth explains the launch of services such as CITICdiamond, it said.