HSBC Holdings, Hong Kong’s largest lender, on Tuesday opened a 23,000-square-foot wealth management centre in the International Commerce Centre (ICC), which is expected to give a boost to the city’s struggling office market and help the bank serve its wealthy clients.
The centre is located on the 99th floor of the ICC and it is HSBC’s largest wealth management office globally. It features 51 meeting rooms for 100 staff to meet with clients, plus two event spaces that can host banquets for up to 220 wealthy customers. The Guinness World Records also said it was the globe’s highest-altitude bank.
HSBC does not release rental information, but a source in the property market said ICC rents stood at HK$65 to HK$69 per sq ft, indicating the new centre’s rent would be HK$1.5 million (US$192,307) to HK$1.6 million a month.
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“With Hong Kong set to become the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub by 2030, we are opening the world’s tallest bank to serve our high-net-worth customers,” said Janet Pang, HSBC Hong Kong’s managing director and head of distribution for wealth and personal banking.
She said the location satisfied the needs of wealthy customers who wanted privacy while also enjoying the expansive views afforded by the ICC.
The ICC location is the bank’s fourth large wealth management centre in the city. It plans to open a fifth location in the International Finance Centre in Central by the end of 2025, Pang said. The others are located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay and at HSBC’s headquarters.
“Even amid a digital banking era, we found high-net-worth customers’ demand for face-to-face meetings with our experienced wealth experts to handle their wealth management, succession planning and other financial needs,” she said. “That is why we found it necessary to have a physical wealth management centre.”
Janet Pang, HSBC Hong Kong’s managing director and head of distribution for wealth and personal banking. Photo: HSBC alt=Janet Pang, HSBC Hong Kong’s managing director and head of distribution for wealth and personal banking. Photo: HSBC>
In February, HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery said he would redirect US$1.5 billion from “low-return” markets to high-growth areas like Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore and India, with wealth management as a priority.
Financial firms like HSBC, Manulife, Standard Chartered and Sun Life have in recent years fought for sea-view offices in Tsim Sha Tsui and other tourist hotspots to open luxury wealth management centres. This in turn has helped support the city’s struggling office property market.
“We have seen more demand in the private and wealth management sectors, typically focused on offices with sea views and core locations,” said Sam Gourlay, head of the office leasing advisory at JLL on Hong Kong Island. “They are definitely bright spots. It would be a stretch too far to say that the office market is going to rebound, but we have certainly reached the bottom for certain assets.”
Hong Kong’s office leasing activity rose for the fourth consecutive month in July, pushing down elevated vacancy rates that had weighed on rents, according to JLL. From April to July, the market absorbed a net 463,000 sq ft of office space, JLL said.
In June, Jane Street Asia leased 223,437 sq ft across six floors in Henderson Land‘s New Central Harbourfront for HK$137 per square foot, totalling HK$30.6 million monthly, excluding fees.
And last month, insurer FWD Hong Kong signed a decade-long lease for 330,000 sq ft of office space in Taikoo Place, marking the largest office rental deal in the city this year.
Gourlay said he expected the trend to continue.
“I do not think the trend is going to stop,” he said. “The Hong Kong government is supporting the development of Hong Kong as a global wealth management centre. The recent rebound in the stock market and the active IPO markets in Hong Kong would all support the growing wealth management business, which would lead to more demand from private banks or wealth management offices.”
On Tuesday, HSBC Life opened a longevity centre near the ICC wealth office, which offered a range of Chinese and Western medicine.
“This longevity centre is a cornerstone of our retirement medical offering, aligning well with our strategy as more customers prioritise preventive and wellness care as part of a comprehensive wealth and protection offering,” said Daisy Tsang, CEO of HSBC Life in Hong Kong and Macau.
