瑞士安勤私人銀行將退出香港市場

Falcon Private bank, a Switzerland-based boutique private wealth manager backed by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, is exiting its Hong Kong operations.

總部位於瑞士的安勤私人銀行有限公司(Falcon Private Bank)將退出香港市場。該行是一家由阿布扎比主權財富基金支持的私人財富管理機構。

The bank blamed the decision on growing competition and rising costs, even as the Asia region, led by China, is projected to power global wealth over coming decades.

該行稱，退出香港市場是因爲市場競爭加劇及成本上升，儘管以中國爲首的亞洲地區可能會在未來幾十年引領全球財富增長。

Falcon will seek to hand off the bulk of its Hong Kong business to another Swiss bank, EFG International.

安勤私人銀行將尋求將香港業務的大部分轉讓給另外一家瑞士銀行――EFG International。

'It is very difficult and costly to do business in China,' said Eduardo Leemann, Falcon's Chief Executive Officer in a telephone interview.

安勤私人銀行首席執行長接受電話採訪時表示，在中國開展業務難度很大，成本也很高。

'You have a lot of people who are asset rich but not necessarily cash rich,' he said, adding the firm hadn't lost money in its China operations.

他說，很多人擁有大量資產，但卻不一定有很多現金。他還說，該公司中國業務並未虧損。

Falcon has had operations in Asia for 25 years and the Swiss wealth manager isn't exiting the region entirely. It plans to use the influence of its Middle East owners to win new business in Malaysia and Indonesia, while maintaining a focus on the Middle East, Africa and Russia.

安勤在亞洲地區開展業務已有25年，該行並不打算完全撤出亞洲。該行計劃通過其中東股東的影響力在馬來西亞和印度尼西亞建立新業務，同時把業務重心仍放在中東、非洲和俄羅斯。

Falcon is owned by Aabar Investments PJS, the majority shareholder of which is the Abu Dhabi government's International Petroleum Investment Company sovereign wealth fund.

安勤私人銀行由Aabar Investments PJS擁有，後者的大股東是阿布扎比政府主權財富基金國際石油投資公司(International Petroleum Investment Company sovereign)。

Zurich-based EFG International will look to take over Falcon's Hong Kong business and could assume around 883 million dollars in assets under management. EFG was established in Asia in 2000 and has around $16.34 billion under management in the region.

總部位於蘇黎世的EFG International將準備接收安勤私人銀行的香港業務，可能將接管大約8.83億美元的資產。EFG亞洲業務於2000年設立，在該地區管理着大約163.4億美元資產。

While some wealth managers continue to bulk up their presence in places like Hong Kong and Singapore by expanding their offices and adding new hires, wealth management has been impacted by slower economic growth, forcing private banks to focus on costs and keep a lid on compensation.

雖然一些財富管理公司繼續通過擴大辦公場所和增加新僱員等方式在香港、新加坡等地擴大業務，但這些公司也受到了經濟增長放緩的影響。經濟放緩導致私人銀行把重點放在削減成本、控制薪酬方面。

A growing list of millionaires in China and beyond has attracted small boutique players who are jostling for market share against established heavy weights such as UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group Inc.

中國等地的百萬富翁越來越多，吸引小型財富管理公司與瑞士銀行(UBS AG)和瑞士信貸集團(Credit Suisse Group Inc.)等重量級公司爭奪市場。

The withdrawal of Falcon from Hong Kong comes as analyst's project the Asia-Pacific region to become the biggest wealth market by population this year, according to a 2013 report by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management. Wealth in the Asia-Pacific region has increased by 27% since 2007, the same report said, tipping Asia to overtake North America as the world's wealth center.

在安勤決定從香港退出之前，Capgemini和RBC Wealth Management 2013年的一篇報告顯示，分析師預計今年亞太地區將成爲以人口計規模最大的財富管理市場。該報道稱，自2007年以來，亞太地區財富增加了27%，預計亞洲將取代北美，成爲全球財富中心。

Yet despite the apparent jump, Asian private bankers produce fewer revenues than their global counterparts. A study by Accenture found that Asian private bankers generate around $600,000 in annual revenue compared with $1.1 million in North America and $1.3 million in Europe.

不過，儘管財富水平明顯上升，但亞洲私人銀行家的收入卻低於全球同行。埃森哲(Accenture)的一項研究發現，亞洲私人銀行家年收入約爲60萬美元，而北美地區的爲110萬美元、歐洲地區的是130萬美元。