HSBC Private Banking Focus
Cynthia Lee, regional head of Private Wealth Solutions in Asia-Pacific for HSBC Private Banking, highlights various aspects of the bank—from its institutional experience to its broad footprint in Asia—that make it stand out in the market
HSBC Private Banking executive Cynthia Lee’s passion for family banking goes back a long way, to her teens, when she began collecting antique documents such as promissory notes and old government bonds. “I have one which is a title deed for an old piece of land in Shanghai from the 1940s during the war, when things were a bit chaotic,” recalls the bank’s regional head of Private Wealth Solutions in Asia-Pacific for HSBC Private Banking.
“A lot of people were left with no option but to entrust their properties to strangers or creditors or debtors because they had to flee the country, so this one-page document basically tells this particular family’s story. This is how I was first drawn to working with families.”
That long-held interest made her decision to join HSBC Private Banking in January this year an easy one. “The opportunity to lead the Private Wealth Solutions business and bring a different level of service offering to our clients was essentially why I made the decision to move to HSBC Private Banking.”
Rich history and strong reputation
With its record of 154 years as an Asian rooted but internationally focussed bank, Lee feels HSBC provides a unique and powerful proposition for clients. “We are one of the few players who have been in Asia for four or five generations, so we have had actual institutional experience from working with numerous generations in planning matters,” she says.
“We are at the heart of Asia and remain the largest foreign international bank in mainland China. We have a huge presence not only in our home market in Hong Kong, but across the key markets in Asia. Collectively, whether it is from the commercial banking, retail or the investment banking arms, we provide a whole suite of solutions for our Asian clients that gives them a broader footprint and global reach. I feel this is the power of HSBC.”