One of the world's largest banking and financial services organizations announced its plans to scale up its wealth management business and boosting fee income in Asia
HSBC
revealed earlier today the purchase of Axa's insurance assets in Singapore for
$575 million. The announcement came after the bank said in February that it
would invest $3.5 billion in its wealth and personal business in Asia, shifting
from some less-profitable business lines in Europe and North America.
As it struggles with lending in a low-interest-rate
environment, HSBC wants to generate more revenue from fees it earns from
selling products to customers.
According to Axa's statement, the deal was subject to
regulatory approvals and would probably close by the end of Q4 2021. The
combined business would be the seventh-largest life insurer and the
fourth-largest retail health insurer, with more than 600,000 active policies
covering life, health, property, and casualty insurance.
Nuno Matos, HSBC's Wealth and Personal Banking business CEO,
stated: "This strategic investment is a key milestone for HSBC Life to
materially scale up, grow and diversify our insurance and wealth business in
Singapore."
Sources: investing.com, scmp.com
